Contusion
by Zavala
Summary: I'm going to leave this fic here if ever you want to read it, but I've stopped working on it.
1. Class Roster

Class Roster----

Class 1A, Cochrane High. Mr. Boyd Rogers, Teacher.

Boy #1 Cedric Rodriguez

Boy #2 Jesmund Bosworth

Boy #3 Sid Algar

Boy #4 Clayton Peticlerc

Boy #5 Dante Zolianis

Boy #6 James Crabbot

Boy #7 Devin Gryznatch

Boy #8 Ryan Dick

Boy #9 Miles Templeton

Boy #10 Peter Orwell

Boy #11 Tom Shelton

Boy #12 Zachary Schmidt

Boy #13 Eric Steinbach

Boy #14Michael Lees

Boy #15 Lee Noble

Boy #16 Ike Ferdez

Boy #17 Morrison Pagem

Boy #18 Taylor Grandent

Boy #19 Cody Ligon

Boy #20 Kael Tennant

Boy #21 Justin Lutley

Boy #22 Shane Appleby

Boy #23 Nick Palagian

Boy#24 Thomas Phillips

Girl #1 Alex Jeffery

Girl #2 Brianne Brianson

Girl #3 Jennifer Penray

Girl #4Hayley Campbell

Girl #5 Beth Bournes

Girl #6 Lindsey Bartholemew

Girl #7 Whitney Sabourin

Girl #8 Michelle Smith

Girl #9 Erin Hill

Girl #10 Evelyn Teegan

Girl #11 Stephanie Mitchell

Girl #12 Lauren Johnson

Girl #13 Kim Grawitch

Girl #14 Nicole Zimmel

Girl #15 Janet Cayley

Girl #16 Samantha Lynes

Girl #17 Ruby Fetega

Girl #18 Meghan Simpson

Girl #19 Amber Sorenson

Girl #20 Rebecca Smith

Girl #21 Kaleigh Humm

Girl #22 Katelyn Weir

Girl #23 Danica Kyle

Girl #24 Amanda George


	2. Chapter 1

BATTLE ROYALE: Raison Detré.

'Reason to Be.'

Chapter 1

"ZOLIANIS!" It was the teacher of the adolescent group, Mr. Boyd Rogers. He yelled at a tall, long haired boy who was face down on his desk, a puddle of drool flowing out of his mouth onto his desk.

"Wha—wha…?" The boy sat up and as his body extended, as did a translucent band of mouth juice. Everyone else laughed at the aquatic disaster that was the stretchy strand of saliva extending from the desk top up to his open mouth. Dante Zolianis (Boy Number Five) realized the presence of the stretchy substance, and then swatted it away with his hand, smiling goofily as he ruffled his hair with his other hand.

"Pay attention in my class!" A vein throbbed in the temple of bald-headed Mr. Rogers the teacher of the delinquents, as his face turned a delicate shade of fuchsia. His eyebrows curved into a steep 'V' as he glared at Dante, his upper lip twitching.

"S-sorry…" replied Dante, who sat upright, putting his hands under his desk. He felt a sharp punch on the arm from someone beside him. Dante's nastic response led him face to face with his best friend since, well… forever, Ike Ferdez (Boy Number Sixteen.)

"Way to go, moron," Ike taunted. Dante let out a girlish giggle, then, realizing that that was his actual laugh, he pretended as though it were a joke. The two then turned back to their tyrant administrator, taking in the lesson he was giving about Physics.

After class, Dante and Ike proceeded out of the busy crowd through the door. Their next class was Physical Education, which took place in the gymnasium.

"Let me get my gym strip, faggot," Dante insulted Ike as the two laughed about some ugly chick.

"Sure thing, dickwad," Ike smiled as the two exchanged taunts. "Wait! No. We don't have gym. We're going on the field trip, remember? Mr. Rogers just told us."

"What? I thought that was last period!" Dante frowned as he said this.

"Nope. Got bumped up," Ike smiled as he saw Dante's obvious predicament. Dante had to gather his things and head to the bus in a mere matter of minutes. This journey would take him the entire length of the school and back, which was quite an inconvenience considering Dante had to be as fast as possible in order to make it for the bus. Ike, meanwhile, scurried off to the locker that was just down an adjacent hallway. He took out his things from his locker that he needed for the trip and headed toward the front doors to the large Greyhound parked in the school's parking lot.

"Grahgarhgagh!" Dante pretended he were some sort of ogre, getting a laugh out of Ike, as he began to sprint through massive crowds of people to his locker. Wait… why the hell did he waste all that time watching Ike get his things? Dante groaned as he realized he'd have to be all that much quicker.

Sidestepping and sprinting through other shifting students, Dante managed to get to the 'Z' section of lockers. He shuffled over to the locker which hosted the contents of Dante's school things, number 998. Entering his locker combo, he opened it, retrieved the blue bag of school things, and then closed it. He began his return journey to the front office, until he was stopped by something more mighty than any brick wall in the, uhm, world.

Sid Algar, (Boy Number Three) stared Dante down with most apprehension.

"Get out of my way!" Dante shoved Sid aside with his shoulder, but Sid wouldn't have it. He grabbed Dante by the back of his collar and brought him face to face with him. Sid's curly brown hair, perched atop his head like a dead poodle swayed slightly as he had grabbed Dante.

"Ew…" Dante mimicked vomiting as Sid held him close. "Your breath reeks of ass," Dante laughed at his own joke in his head. 'Good one!' he thought. He knew he was being ridiculous.

Sid's reaction was quite expected, as he reeled his fist back to punch Dante in the face. Dante quickly ducked, dashing through the dispersing crowd to get back to his final destination. Sid, meanwhile, stayed close behind, shoving aside crowds of people as he made chase.

Neither of the two was very strong. They were both around the same height, with brown hair, though Dante's was somewhat blonde. Dante had blue eyes, while Sid had brown. Though they were fierce enemies, they were similar in appearance.

Dante laughed as he ducked and jumped through the crowds of ignorant passerby. He actually managed to get away with quick "Hey's" and "Hi's" along the way. Finally, Dante reached the light of the cafeteria. The front doors were in a hallway just to his left. Dante screeched along the shiny floor, drifting a few feet on his sneakers before sprinting to the doors. Suddenly, he felt the top half of his body moving forward while the bottom half stopped.

"Ahhhhh!" Dante tripped, landing square on his face. Sid, meanwhile, took this opportunity to pounce upon Dante.

"HEY!" A loud bark echoed throughout the near-empty cafeteria as the principal of the school burst towards the two students. Sid immediately relinquished his grip on the fallen Dante, while Dante stood up, brushing dust off of his front. "No fighting!" was all the principal said as he bolted down another hallway in a brisk walk. Sid spat at Dante's feet, while Dante laughed his girly laugh. Upon hearing this, Sid turned around and gave Dante a look which said, "Was that you?" Dante shrugged and feigned ignorance, trying to cover-up for his girly laugh.

Dante sighed as Sid walked towards the front door. He followed a few meters behind, trying not to risk getting in another conflict. Sid, meanwhile, maintained a slow walk along the hallway.

Dante was normal, to sum things up. He had neck-length dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tall nose. His hair hung over the front of his face to his eyebrows, while the back and sides twirled out in tiny curls. The hood he was wearing had a zipper in the front, while it was colored a dark grey, dark enough to the point of blackness. His jeans were blue, and the shirt worn underneath his hood was a bold red. He was very skinny, though his legs were quite muscular. Dante was an avid long-distance runner. He was also into volleyball. He was somewhat tall, also, reaching almost six feet. Dante's sneakers were worn out from extensive shenanigans, which made an odd-looking contrast from the brown canvas of them to the white streaks allocated across the front and side. Dante shook his head as he continued walking, and then stopped when he noticed a girl standing outside her locker.

It was her. The girl of Dante's dreams, to be precise. Ruby Fetega, (Girl Number Seventeen) stood at her locker twirling the center of the lock. Dante walked up to her, engaging conversation.

"Hey," he said in a goofy voice as he leaned up against the locker next to hers. Ruby turned around, and smiled seeing Dante's bright face. Her short, multicolored hair reached as far as Dante's did, and her pink vest overtop of her long-sleeve sweatshirt shone in the reflected light of the lit school hallways.

"Hey there, big guy!" Ruby punched Dante in the stomach lightly, making Dante laugh goofily. Dante felt his stomach squirm as she did so.

"Ready for the lame-ass field trip?" Dante asked as Ruby opened her locker, taking her things out.

"What? This field trip sounds fun!" Ruby looked into Dante's eyes… Time froze for Dante. He admired her doe-like eyes, which were a shining color of hazel. Her round face, which looked pretty cute, smiled as Dante said nothing.

"Uhm. What? Yeah! That's what I meant," Ruby laughed in response to Dante's idiocy. She turned back to her locker and continued to search for her necessary provisions. Dante, meanwhile, slapped himself on the inside, trying to find other ways of bringing up something to talk about.

Dante figured there was nothing wrong with this girl. She was funny, cute, out-going, nice… Every aspect in a girl Dante could possibly want.

"Okay, well I'm gonna go now." Ruby slung the strap of her bag over her shoulder as she spoke.

"Okay. See you later." Dante waved as Ruby walked out of the front doors, then, realizing he too would have to exit those doors, followed. Outside, the Greyhound bus stood tall in the parking lot, its metallic exterior highlighted by the sunlight. The June summer was warm and sunny, making for excellent outdoor conditions. The rest of Dante's class lay in the grass, sat talking to each other, or they just plain hung out. Dante could see many of his friends as they sat outside… Though he could see his enemies, too. As Dante smiled and sat down with Ike and the rest of his crew, he surveyed the rest of the school. Little did he know, this was the last he would see of Cochrane High. As the bus conductor motioned for the students and the teacher to climb aboard, Dante stood up thinking, "This is gonna be one crazy field trip."

48 STUDENTS REMAIN


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dante filed onto the bus with the rest of his classmates, and searched for a good seat. Dante looked around the bus at the students who had already sat down. He saw many familiar faces, which, Dante thought up some good sarcasm, contrary to popular belief, was hard to believe seeing as he went to school with all of them.

Sitting in the back was another friend of Dante's, Ryan Dick (Boy#8). Ryan was a nice guy; he was big into sports. He had short, cropped brown hair and he was somewhat built. He was quite lanky, though, and his long legs rested into the lap of the person beside him, Alex Jeffery (Girl #1). Alex was a likable girl, one who was easy-going, smart, and funny. Alex and Ryan weren't going out, but they were good friends. While Ryan was a jocky, goofy teenager, Alex was a sophisticated, mature adolescent. Put the two of them together, and you have every trait a person could have.

Just in front of them, talking to eachother were some guys Dante never really knew; they were both real assholes anyway; Kael Tennant (Boy#20) and Lee Noble (Boy# 15). They were both rural kids, who were big into hunting, rifles, that kinda stuff. Dante was never into that crap. However, they lacked anything whatsoever when it came to matters of intelligence. Ike had made fun of their intellect, claiming them to be semi-autistic. Dante was never interested in the jocky kind of guy, but he figured they seemed okay enough. Kael was short and small, with numerous spots about his face. He also sported what Ike called a "pansy stache," a post-pubescent moustache. Clayton was stocky, with curly hair and freckles.

Being from Canada, Dante was used to cold weather. Temperatures below zero were nothing to be afraid of for him and his friends; in fact, they were something to laugh at. "Haha! The weather's being a pussy!"

Dante and Ike lived in Cochrane, Alberta, a town renown for its extremely fast growth, one of the fastest growth rates of a small city in Canada. A little over 10,000 people, it was tucked quietly in a valley, just west of Calgary. Dante and Ike both went to, strangely enough, Cochrane High School. It was an OK school, though Dante never really liked any of his teachers.

The teacher of the class Dante and Ike were a part of was named Boyd Rogers, who was looking over the bus with a clipboard. He was a dick. He was in his 40's, wore those wide, thin spectacles, and wore a permanent frown, complemented nicely by his incredibly shiny bald head. Dante figured he looked like a bald eagle. He had often verbally abused children, which obviously, had caused him to be quite disliked by the vast majority of Cochrane High.

Looking forward, Dante saw a group of lame girls talking to each other in a busy circle. Dante had always hated girls like that… Introverts. How lame. "They're shy around everyone else, and they only express themselves when around another. I guess that makes a good clique… but…. LAME!" He disliked all of them, for hiding in their circles of mindless banter about "OMG BOYZ" and "OMG SPORTS" when no one really cared for their presence. He thought they were all rather annoying…

The girls consisting of the group were Amanda George, (Girl # 24) a large, loud-mouthed girl, Michelle Smith(Girl # 8) , an acne-covered quiet girl, Brianne Brianson (Girl # 2) a somewhat decent looking girl, who, actually, when Dante thought about it, he didn't mind, Lindsey Bartholemew (Girl # 6), an intelligent girl who was afraid of the spotlight and Stephanie Mitchell (Girl # 11), a small, high-voiced girl whom everybody hated because of her extreme immaturity.

Dante scoffed and looked at the next group within his vision. It was the rest of Dante and Ike's friends; the… well. Now that Dante thought about it, he and Ike never really belonged to a particular group. They weren't part of this group either. Although Dante was considered liked by most of the class, he had chosen to hang out with the people he liked the most. He had always though the popular people were lame; they would over-exaggerate on the stupidest things. "My mom ran over a basketball yesterday!" "SWEEEET!"

Dante had always thought it immature and unnecessary. Really, who gives a fuck?

Upon seeing them, Dante's friends summoned him and Ike over.

"Ow," Dante scraped his head against the roof of the bus. "Huh… Am I really that tall?" Dante rubbed his head with his palm. Being 15 years old, Dante had reached somewhat of a plateau regarding his growth spurts. Nearly six feet tall, Dante was quite skinny, though he did have somewhat of a definition.

Dante never really had problems regarding his looks. He had azure-blue eyes, which he thought looked quite intriguing. Other than that, nothing really stood out to him. He had somewhat long hair, which was colored in different spots because of him experimenting with it. Black and gold covered the ends of his hair, whereas the new hair was still brown, his natural color. He had wide eyes, which, accentuated with the color, he thought were good-looking. He had medium-sized lips and a shallow, tall nose. He never really had trouble with acne. Maybe a pimple once in a while, nothing to fret about though.

Ike, on the other hand, was small and scrawny. He had a similar hair color to Dante's, which was a little shorter, though it was considered by most quite good-looking. His eyes were a dark, cold, brown, and he had a long nose.

Dante and Ike walked over and sat opposite their two friends, Justin Lutley (Boy#21), and Cedric Rodriguez (Boy #1). Justin was medium-sized with glasses. He had a slight problem with acne, with minor blemishes appearing on his cheeks and forehead. He had short, fluffy brown hair and a huge mouth.

Cedric was Spanish, so he had black hair. He was small, and, well… Ordinary. Nothing really stood out about Cedric.

"Hey guys." Dante said as he sat down beside Ike, who took the window seat of the bus.

"Hey," replied Cedric. "You're late… Mr. Rogers is quite pissed." The four of them laughed at Mr. Rogers' name.

"Yeah. I could care less, though." Dante leant back in his seat and propped his feet up on to the top of his seat. He accidentally bumped the head of the person in front of him, which turned about to be the loner of the class, Sid Algar. After their confrontation a few minutes ago, Sid had avoided Dante. Upon seeing him again though, Sid turned around and glared at Dante. Dante feigned giving head just to piss him off. It succeeded and Sid sneered horribly, is noise turning upward sickeningly.

Dante ignored Sid's sneer and looked around the rest of the bus. Beside Sid Algar was a new girl, who was very good-looking, but still unacquainted with the rest of the class. "Pst," Dante nudged Ike. "What's her name again?" Ike responded extremely loudly. "Who? Her? Who knows? Who cares?"

"Jesus, Ike." Dante laughed and Ike made a sly smirk. Dante saw the girl divert her eyes forward for a moment, an indication that she had heard them both, and then looked back out the window.

"Ced. What's her name? Beside Sid, here."

"Kaleigh Humm. She'd be girl #21."

"Thanks Ced."

"Whaddya need it for?"

"Nothing. Just curious."

"Okay. Hey, you play the new Final Fantasy?"

Cedric and Justin began to converse in their seats, then Dante started looking around again. In near the front were the popular girls. Dante had found them the most irritable of the class. They were kinda like the introverts, except these girls actually had boyfriends, so the "OMG BOYZ" was replaced by something like… "OMG BOYFRIEND TROUBLEZ". Dante had always ignored them, seeing as they were incredibly annoying an unnecessarily loud. They were good looking, but just unlikable. Part of that group was made up by their leader, Nicole Zimmel (Girl #14), who, of course, was only the leader because of her status with the quarterman, the quarterback, who was behind her, brushing her hair… Brushing her hair! Jesus.

His name was Jesmund Bosworth (Boy #2). Dante had always hated him. Jesmund had picked on Justin and Cedric ruthlessly for the earlier years of junior high, which infuriated Dante. How dare he! Bastard. I'll kill him in his sleep.

Er…

Yeah. He was tall and muscular, and he wore the same purple-and-gold football jacket day in and day out.

Around Nicole and Jesmund were the rest of the popular girls; Evelyn Teegan (Girl # 10), a dark-skinned girl from Jamaica who was good at basketball, Lauren Johnson (Girl # 12), a good-looking volleyball player whom Dante had once fancied, and Beth Bournes (Girl # 5), a smart girl who had been longtime friends with Nicole.

A row behind them were the rest of the jocks, Tom Shelton (Boy #11) a small, cocky football player, and Michael Lees (Boy # 14) who was a hockey player.

The only sport Dante enjoyed was volleyball; though no one in his class played it. His father had taught him to play long ago.

Dante's family was normal, adjusted. His father worked at an oil and gas company, which was the main staple in Alberta, which yielded him a decent salary. His mother worked at a bank, which was close to school so sometimes Dante could visit her on the way home. Dante had two older brothers; Court and Kevin. Court was 17 years old, and he was a bit of a loner, though Dante still appreciated him. Kevin was 19, though he was in Japan studying abroad. Dante had looked up to Kevin; he had taught him everything, from drugs to school to girls. Kevin knew it all, or at least Dante thought.

A row behind the jocks was a couple of guys didn't exactly have common interests, but still hung around with each other nonetheless. Their names were James Crabbot (Boy # 6), Taylor Grandent (Boy #18) and Miles Templeton (Boy #9). Miles was childish, but likable, and was talking to Taylor, who was mature and sophisticated, about the school band. James, who was interested in politics, had his nose in a book about dragons.

A few rows behind were the girls Dante was interested in. Of course, the love of his life was a part of them. Yes, Ruby Fetega. Her two friends, Erin Hill (Girl #9), who wore plenty of bracelets on her arms and wore elaborate clothing, and the other girl, Vanessa Mosolf (Girl #18), who Dante actually was actually good friends with, were talking about some band. Vanessa and Erin were both good looking, and they were both very fun to talk with. Dante did talk to Ruby on occasion, but most of their conversations ended up the same as the one they had earlier in school; Dante making a fool of himself and Ruby giggling shyly. Ruby was a girl of medium height, who had her hair dyed pink and orange in some areas. Her natural color was black, which Dante thought provided a nice contrast with the shiny neon colors. She had a round, shiny face with doe-like brown eyes. She, too, wore elaborate clothing like her friends which Dante thought was very attractive. She also played guitar.

So, in all aspects, Ruby was perfect. Or so Dante thought…

Dante had once played bass in a band named Contusion, thought Dante thought Carpetburn Contusion sounded better… Anyway, they played stuff that often was popular on the underground rock scene nowadays, like The Mars Volta, Fall of Troy and other bands like that. Dante had liked playing the music, though he hated his band mates, who were, coincidentally, also in his class.

They were sitting a few rows behind Dante and his friends, and they were busily chatting about something. The three other members of the former band Contusion were, Cody Ligon (Boy #19), who played guitar, and although being very talented was very conceited. Sitting beside him with his swept black hair and spiked bracelets was the singer, Morrison Pagem (Boy #17). Morrison was nice enough… He and Dante had been good friends before the band had broken up. Although being a little cocky, Morrison was shy and relied on his friends for moral support. He had come from a rough family; his father had abused him and his mother had left a few weeks after he was born. His brother had long since moved out, moving onto better things and leaving Morrison behind. Morrison was left to take all the abuse, which Dante thought was quite sad. Morrison had been taken into a foster home, which was how Ike had known him.

Ike's parents owned the foster home. Ike had often spent time with the kids inside, and he had met Morrison several years ago when he had first arrived. Ike and Morrison were good friends, having known each other for a long time. In fact, when Dante thought about it, he would like to be reacquainted with Morrison.

Across from Morrison and Cody was the drummer, loud, boisterous Devin Gryznatch (Boy #7). He was a total idiot; he said things that made little to no sense, and he had often gotten himself into arguments, which he could not get out of. He was disliked by most of the class, and was part of the reason Dante had left. Dante hated Cody for his massive ego and Devin for his absurdity, which had caused Dante to only like Morrison. Morrison was quite passive and didn't care for Cody and Devin as long as he could play music with them.

Dante exhaled and saw near to the back an extremely intimate couple, who were making out all over each other. Eric Steinbach (Boy #13) and Amber Sorenson (Girl #19) were slobbering all over each other. Dante laughed and threw a pen at Eric. It hit Eric in the side of the head and he separated from Amber's mouth, staring at the front of the bus. He gave up in his search and joined Amber again. Dante scoffed and threw another pen, then turned back around. Dante had never actually spoken to either Eric or Amber, considering neither really had chances to speak in the first place.

A couple rows in front of Dante was the class artist, Clayton Proud (Boy #4). He was quite reserved, and he was not very good looking, although his art was beautiful. He had once drawn the emblem for Contusion, which was, to Dante's enjoyment, very graphic, though it looked great.

Three more girls were located across from Clayton, chatting busily about their plans for the field trip. These were the badass girls; known far and wide throughout Cochrane as legendary party goers, though they weren't sluts. Dante always found them interesting, though he never exactly got to know them. They were Katelyn Weir (Girl #22) and Rebecca Smith (Girl #20).

In front of him were two girls who pretty much were best friends. Their names were Janet Cayley (Girl #16) and Samantha Lynes (Girl #15). Janet and Samantha constantly kept to each other, only allowing other girls to talk to them. They were unpopular and disliked by many, though Janet was good-looking.

Just behind Dante were the delinquent girls. Dante said "Hey," to them, to which they replied "Hey," one after the other. There were three of them; Jennifer Penray (Girl #3), who was quite good-looking, though she had a renowned reputation for being a total slut. Beside her was her partner-in-crime, Hayley Campbell (Girl #4). She had long blonde hair, and wore way too much makeup. In the seat opposite them was the girl who soaked up all the hot gossip so that she could spread rumors among the school, Whitney Sabourin (Girl #7). She was small and ugly; she was disliked by many.

"Hey, I'd just like to tell you all that, I, uh, think you all suck." Dante laughed and Ike, hearing the comment, snickered and added, "Especially you, Jennifer. Literally." Ike and Dante laughed and high-fived each other, while the three girls behind them whispered amongst themselves.

Dante looked up and saw Ruby… He stared in awe, then, to his dismay, Ruby turned around and saw him. Ruby smiled and waved, to which Dante flopped his hand about, slapping Ike in the face. Ruby raised her eyebrows and returned to the conversation she was having with Vanessa, while Ike punched Dante in the arm and called him an idiot. Dante slapped himself upside the head and thought… "What an idiot…"

Dante feel back into his seat, and laughed as he tried to regain his emotional stability after embarrassing himself so vividly.

"Hey, man." It was another friend of Dante's, Shane Appleby (Boy #22). He was a guy who pretty much hung around anyone he wanted to hang around with. There wasn't anyone who wouldn't be willing to accept him into their group. He was street-smart, good looking and skilled at many things. However, he had a tendency to be quite arrogant when people praised him.

Behind him was his only consistent friend, Zachary Schmidt (Boy #12), who was the class clown. Zach knew how to please anyone; he could laugh people into doing anything. Zach was short and had brown hair, which curled past his jaw line. Shane was tall and built, and his brown hair lay on top of his head like a blanket.

"Hey." Dante looked further behind Zachary and saw the class representative, Peter Orwell (Boy #10.) Peter knew anything there was to know about anything; even on the class trip he had a pile of textbooks with him. Peter had averaged a 98 last term, and was well on his way to the university of his choice. Peter was a nice guy, though he was shy. He had black hair, which hung lightly over his face, reaching his eyebrows, which were pushed up by a pair of glasses.

The final two boys came onto the bus; two boys who were nothing alike, though Dante knew these two shared a bond somewhat similar to his and Ike's. They were best friends, and had been since they first met, around the same time as Dante and Ike. Which was diapers, basically. They were Thomas Phillips (Boy#24) and Nick Tomlinson (Boy#23). Thomas was small, a little chubby, and British. He had a somewhat unhealthy liking to The Beatles, and had tried taking up guitar, though he wasn't very good. Nick, on the other hand, was quite strong-willed and determined. He was quite strong, though he didn't waste his time with sports. He fought to raise money for some unknown cause. Nick was a mystery, that's for sure.

Behind him were the final two students; two girls whom Dante knew fairly well, Kim Grawitch (Girl #13) and Danica Kyle (Girl #23.) Kim was a gothic girl, though she was good looking. She was somewhat mean, though her pranks were often directed toward the popular girls so Dante didn't mind. Danica was a volleyball player, whom Dante had known because she was on the girls team. She was nice, he thought.

"Alright. Everyone is here? Okay. Let's go." Mr. Rogers stood at the top of the bus, his shiny head reflecting light throughout the bus.

"Mr. Rogers head is the holy grail." Zach said in an official voice that made the boys laugh.

And as the bus shifted into first gear and pulled out of the school parking lot onto the highway, Class 1 of Cochrane High School's field trip had finally begun.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The bus' wheels moved forward, and the excited students babbled nonchalantly about their plans for the big field trip.

The more Dante thought about the field trip, the more he thought it was strange. No one knew where they were being taken, and no one knew what purposes the field trip would serve. Were they to study about science or something?

"Hey," Ike nudged Dante's arm and shook his head toward the front of the bus. It was Mr. Rogers.

Mr. Rogers, normally a strong, well-together man, was a sickly pale, with an upside-down face; he looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"Wow." Dante gaped, open-mouthed at their teacher, whom for so long was a symbol of terror and oppression.

"Hahaha…" Ike laughed silently as the bus headed over a bump, which caused Mr. Rogers to thrash his head around rapidly, searching for the source of the noise. He was wearing a blue cardigan over top of a suit and tie. His beige Dockers pants went pleasantly with his shiny black dress shoes.

"That's not right. This field trip is weird, man," Dante knitted his brow and smirked cautiously. He knew something… unnatural… was up.

"Don't worry about it. He's probably just sick or something," Ike made a look, which said "How-can-you-be-worried-about-that-asshole?" Dante looked up the isle of the bus and saw the popular girls chatting mindlessly about some random crap. He exhaled casually and closed his eyes for a moment…

….Dante woke up. It was night. It took him a little bit to regain focus, but as soon as he did…

Nothing special had happened. A few students were still awake, mingling with others, while most students were rested against one another or against windows and seats. Ike, beside Dante, had slept up against the window, his eyes in a glare. Dante yawned and checked his watch. It was about 1:25 A.M. He looked around and saw the new girl staring out the window again.

"Hey," he leaned over an asleep Sid Algar and the girl turned around. She was very beautiful. Dante felt his face go warm, but didn't get worried about it because it was too dark for her to see him blushing anyway.

"Where are you from? You're new around here and no one really knows you. I'm just curious, is all," Dante asked the girl.

"Uhmm… I'm from the United States. I… I moved here after my father was killed…"

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that. I… I don't mean to pry, but, what happened?"

"Uhm… The government officials he worked with said he had suddenly died at work… Like a heart attack or something."

"Oh…"

"Yeah…"

Dante stared at the ground, hating himself for being such a jackass. If he weren't in a bad enough position already, he would've done that self-physical-punishment thing he always does.

"Uhm… Sorry, but, what was your name again?" Dante asked.

"Kaleigh Humm." She replied.

"Cool. Talk to you later," Dante leant back down into his seat and rested his knees against the seat in front of him. Almost immediately, Sid Algar awoke and turned around, furiously glaring at Dante.

"Oh. Sorry." Dante said in a voice that was clearly not apologetic.

"Fuck off, idiot." Sid hissed in a violent tone.

"Jesus. Calm down." Dante gave Sid a look which reeked of sarcasm, which caused Sid to make a "As if I'm gonna listen to you look," after which he turned back into his seat and fell back asleep. Dante was bored. There was nothing really left to do.

He stared at Cedric and Justin, who were both asleep. The only other people awake were James Crabbot, who was still immersed in his book, Morrison Pagem, who stared absent-mindedly at the floor, Kim Grawitch, who was eyeing Mr. Rogers with utmost apprehension, and Dante and Kaleigh.

The bus driver then flicked a switch on the bus, which, upon activation, issued a slight hissing noise to the rest of the bus. James and Morrison both looked up, while Kaleigh continued looking at the window. Dante looked around the bus for the source of the hissing, but the more he frantically looked around for the strange sound, the more of his energy was sapped. The bus driver strapped a strange contraption to his face, one that made him look like some sort of alien… It was a … gas mask? Dante gawked open-eyed at the bus driver, turned around one last time to look at Morrison, who met Dante's glance with a horrified look, then, Dante felt himself smack his head upon the steel floor and lose consciousness.

"Ow…"

"What's going on?"

"I think I'm going to be sick…"

"What… what? Where's Mr. Rogers?"

Dante awoke in small classroom full of chairs, rubbing his aching head. A small bump had formed. There were tables in each corner of the room, while the bodies of his classmates lay scattered about the area.

"They're not… No. They're not. I can see them breathing." He thought. A few of his classmates were stirring, some of which were fully awake, staring at the ceiling and walls, whispering rapidly to each other. There was no one else in the room, though there was a window which spanned nearly the entire length of the wall on Dante's left; the wall in front of him played host to a chalkboard which had nothing written on it, though there were chalk and erasers along the shelf of the board. A door was along the right wall further away from Dante, and on the wall behind him was a great Canadian flag along with pictures of past political leaders.

"Dante…" It was Ike.

"Ike? Ike! Are you alright?"

"Yeah… fine." Ike used his arms to push himself up from the ground, then he began to take in his surroundings.

"Where… where are we?" As soon as Ike had gotten himself up, more of the students came awake, while the awake students woke up the others by calling them and touching them.

"I have no fucking clue. This is weird, though, huh?"

"I never would've guessed."

Dante scoffed. He would've laughed if the current situation wasn't so tense. Suddenly, a low whirring aroused the rest of the students who were asleep. The class was now fully awake.

"What the fuck?"

It was Tom Shelton, the cocky football player. His annoying, bird-like voice penetrated Dante's eardrums.

"Where are we? What the fuck! I want out!" He ran to the door, then began to turn the knob. It wouldn't budge. "Come on!" Tom got an angry look upon his face as he began to pull and turn at the knob randomly.

"Tom, sit down!" It was one of the popular girls, Lauren Johnson.

Tom ignored her, still pulling and turning the knob randomly. After deciding the knob wouldn't get him anywhere, he kicked furiously at the door. Dante sighed and stared at the massive window. Suddenly, he figured out what the whirring was. It was a helicopter. Its bright lights then illuminated the classroom, making everyone aware of its presence. The students scrambled over to the windows, pushing their palms at it randomly as though to try to open it. No good though, as it was bulletproof glass.

…Not that the students' hands were bullets, it was just stronger than most other glasses.

Dante watched as the helicopter slowly settled into what seemed to be a heli-pad outside the classroom. What happened next was very unexpected. Out of it came several camouflage-clad soldiers, each of them toting a military machine gun. They formed a line as another man stepped out of the chopper, a man who was quite short, yet he had hair down to his shoulders. He nodded at the troupe of soldiers as he walked by, and disappeared past the classroom into some other entrance to the building. The soldiers then followed, as the chopper then ascended and returned to wherever it had come from.

The students then released their grip upon the windows and randomly scattered throughout the rest of the room. The only student who hadn't seemed to be against the windows was sitting by himself in the corner of the room, laughing silently at the rest of the classroom.

"What's up, Sid? Somethin' funny?" It was the head jock, Jesmund Bosworth.

"Yeah. You idiots randomly pressing up against the window like some sort of bullshit kids gawking at a fucking monkey in the zoo. Either that, or you're the monkeys, throwing your shit randomly for a hopeless cause." He laughed after this, which caused Jesmund to sprint over to him, punching Sid in the face.

"Jesmund! Stop!" His girlfriend, Nicole Zimmel, yelled at him, which obviously accomplished nothing, as Jesmund began to throw more punches into Sid's face and torso. Finally, Jesmund's two jock friends wrapped his arms up and dragged him away. Jesmund's big lips were curved into a hideous frown as he breathed rapidly, his fists flailing.

Jesmund was from Toronto, Ontario. He had grown up on the streets; he was black, and had come from a poverty-struck family. Life in Toronto was hard on him, making him a ruthless fighter, although a talented athlete. His purple and gold jacket flared in the lack of light, making him and his jock-mates easily visible.

Nicole and some other kids then flanked him, encouraging him to keep his cool. Sid remained solitary in the corner, his brown curly hair even more ruffled than usual, sporting a black eye in the making, a cut lip, and a horribly bloody nose. He had one hand gripping his stomach and the other checking for how much blood was coming from the appendages on his face. He sneered at Jesmund, smirked, and spat on the ground in front of him. Jesmund tried desperately to get back at him, but his friends held him back saying, "It's not worth it! It's not worth it!" repeatedly. As soon as Jesmund calmed down, the door to the classroom clicked open, which caused the students to straighten up and gawk at what could be coming out of the door.

"All rise!"

The students looked at each other, and then slowly stood up, one by one. Sid remained sitting in the corner, giggling excitedly to himself.

Four soldiers walked in, each of them decked in camouflage and carrying an assault machine gun. Dante figured they were the same ones who had come out of the helicopter. After them, the man who had exited the chopper by himself walked in with a document, threw it onto the counter at the front of the room, and then he stood behind it, looking at the class.

"Hey," he said casually.

The class looked around at each other, and then Dante heard someone reply "Hey," back.

"Ha. I like that," the man replied. "Who're you, son?" He asked.

Dante searched the class, looking for the boy who had spoken up. He then found Ike, who replied, "Eh- Ike Ferdez, sir."

Dante gawked at Ike, who was perfectly calm. He couldn't believe Ike could remain so calm in such an odd circumstance.

"Ah, yes, boy number 16? Yes, welcome Ike. Sit down, please, in fact, everyone, sit down." Ike nodded, and then sat down. The rest of the class followed Ike's example.

"Well… I suppose you're wondering why you're here, and where you are. Tch!" The teacher laughed and slapped his hand against his forehead. "Yes! Of course you are."

The teacher smiled, nodded his head a couple times, exhaled, then he threw his arms wide and yelled, "You're in the Program!"

"HOLY SHIT!"

Peter Orwell gagged, then vomited all over a corner of the room.

"HAHAHA! YES! I KNEW IT!"

It was Sid. He was ecstatic. He stood now, in the corner of the room, with a wide grin upon his face. His arms were at his side, his body expressing no emotion. Even though his face was bloody and beaten, he had somehow managed to look like the happiest person on Earth.

Dante, on the other hand, felt sick as well. How… How? The Program? Fuck that, it's like, a one in one-hundred thousand chance. No way. It's a joke.

Beside Dante, Ike exhaled nervously, his breath being unsteady, unlike the usual, calm, held-together Ike.

A couple of the girls let out whimpers, and held themselves with one-another. Meanwhile, Dante could hear Sid's feet doing a victory dance.

"Yes, that's right. The Program! Congratulations! What an honor, eh?" The man smiled at the class, his long hair laying flat on his head like a drape. Dante lost all hope, and swallowed back some vomit. The back of his throat got that painful feeling which happens when someone is ganged up on or something.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know you guys don't like this sorta thing, aside from you Mr…. Algar? Yes, that's you, I presume. Your file addresses you most disapprovingly. I can see the rest of your class hates you."

"Yeah, that's why this is so great. I'll just kill them."

"What?"

James Crabbot stood up. "Killing? What, what is this? Is this a joke?"

"BAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Sid and the man in front of the class began to laugh together. James wrinkled his chubby face and sat back down, burying his face in his hands. Dante could hear him whimper.

"No, it's not a joke. I suppose some of you don't know why you're here? On the other hand, what you're going to be doing here? Well, here are the basics; the governments got a population problem with you kids. You have disrespected your elders for too long, and this is the government's way of cleaning up the trash that so hideously disgraces our streets. You're gonna kill each other off until there's one of you left. That's all there is to it! No rules!"

The man then took a remote from the shelf of the chalkboard and flicked a switch to turn on a TV that, until now, Dante hadn't noticed was stationed in the top corner of the room, supported by a sort of metal sling.

As the TV turned on, a woman in her 20's was shown in the screen. She was wearing Arctic-camouflage on most parts of her body, though she was wearing nothing on her torso except for an army-camouflage bra.

"Greetings, Class 1 of Cochrane High School! And Congratulations on becoming this year's selected class for The Program!"

Several students in the class gawked at how a woman could act so cheery, while Sid was in heaven. Dante glared at him and received a middle finger in return, and then he diverted his attention back to the television.

"Yes, in this game, you're supposed to kill each other off until there's only one student left standing! How are you gonna do this? Well, I'll explain! One thing to remember about this game is there are no rules; you're allowed to do anything… Except…

"Escape! You're not going anywhere, punks! The government wants you little kids to follow through with this; not act like the cowards that most of you are," Dante became infuriated. How he'd love to punch that woman in the face. Or make love to her… She was hot…. NO! NO NO NO! Dante slapped himself in the face.

"You'll notice that you're not wearing collars like the rumors usually have stated; this is because too many students have died before the game has even started for being such idiots!"

Dante imagine what horrible deaths those students must have gone through. He had some knowledge of the program and the government that ran it.

The Canadian government had joined something that most people recognize as "The Coalition." The Coalition was made after the corrupt United Nations was scrapped. It was scrapped because of it's lack of administration over the rest of the world. The corrupt countries, such as Cuba, Chile and other nations had breached most contracts of the band of nations. They had manipulated most other countries into hosting their weapons operations, which were constructed to use against other, stronger, nations for more land and power.

Three of the five main powers; USA, Russia, and China scrapped the United Nations. The right of veto had been exterminated after nothing had been accomplished because at least one of the major powers disagreeing with the rest, which had caused much more to be accomplished. After the UN was scrapped, those three nations created The Coalition, which was a more restricted version of the UN. The United States had encouraged Canada for years to join, and, finally in the year 2007, Canada had joined. Other nations, such as Britain, Japan, Mexico, Holland, Denmark, and most African and South-American countries soon after joined. The Coalition was now the strongest power on Earth; soon after it's construction and the joining of the other nations, each country had introduced it's own measure of controlling it's rebellious youth; The Program. Although each countries' Program varied in some aspects, they were all based upon the same concept, which was have a Battle Royale with a randomly selected class of any high school in the nation. Since joining schools was made mandatory, no kid could NOT be taken into the Program, even those who had ties into the government somehow.

All in all, the Coalition was a corrupt organization, poisoning its people against them with their own idiocy and ridiculous paranoia.

"Yes, you will all be given collars as soon as this is over. Now that most of you have emptied your rage upon the teacher, you'll have nothing left for when you receive the necklaces."

Dante sighed and watched the teacher, who was going over the class with a clipboard. The soldiers in the room stood in a line against the wall, staring straight ahead, still carrying their guns.

"The role call will start at number one, which will indicate your exit from this building. Upon exiting, the soldiers will supply you with a green bag, like this," She held up a green bag, which looked like it had quite a few things in it.

"The objects inside of this are, bread, water, a flashlight, a map, and a randomly selected weapon," She took out each of the objects as she named them, save the weapon. "Just because it's a weapon doesn't mean it's any good; for all you know, you could pull out something like a digital camera! Wouldn't that be great? All the memories… Anyway, let's see what weapon I got," She reached into her bag and pulled out a hatchet. "This is good! Imagine clocking someone in the head with this! Isn't that fun?" A few girls in the class whimpered, while Peter threw up again in his corner. A boy in front of Dante was shaking, while Ike was staring at the screen with a look of disbelief.

"Alright, and about your maps; each one of your maps will have a grid of zones. Each one of these zones will be titled A-1, B-7, C-12 and so on. Every 6 hours, your instructor will announce new danger zones, which you will, obviously, want to avoid, as well as the deaths of your friends. If you're in the danger zones at the wrong times, you're dead! Haha! Imagine that! One of you idiots getting blasted to pieces cause you were in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

Dante went over the situations in his head; he didn't want to die. Nor did he want anyone else in the class to die, save Sid, who had obviously gone crazy. He was now sporting a toothy grin while staring glassy-eyed at the screen.

"The teacher will announce the time a danger zone is activated along with where it'll be. For example, E-7 at 7:00 AM. Make sense? Probably not, you're all borderline autistic anyway. (Sid laughed hard at this and blurted out, 'Not me!') Okay, and with that, your teacher will now answer questions."

"What she said," the man at the front had announced. Several students hands' jutted up. "Uhmm… Okay. How about you?" He pointed at Lauren Schock, a basketball player.

"Yes… Where is Mr. Rogers?"

The rest of the class looked up at the man with a hopeful expression on their faces. Maybe Mr. Rogers'd help them?

"Oh! Yes! Your teacher, right? Well… we had to deal with him. It was only necessary. He was quite discontent with this class being selected; although he had notoriety for being abusive, he had always wanted you all to be successful. Yes, boys, bring him in."

One of the soldiers opened the door into the hallway, called out "Bring him in," and another soldier wheeled in a trolley with a white blanket covering up what was obviously a…

Human…

The soldier tore off the blanket and the class went berserk.

Mr. Rogers had no face. It was gone.

Dante stared blankly at the corpse, traumatized.

Mr. Rogers head lay facing all of them, though it did not have a face to face them with. His eyes had been gouged out; what were normally his frowning brows were gone, giving way to fresh bone. Dried blood, which had poured from where his eyes were, and the bone lay gleaming in the moonlight. The top of his head was almost missing; gray jelly laid atop a canvas of white, making a contrast of horror. Dante thought, "His brains… Oh my god… His brains… Oh…"

The rest of his face was a mess. The mouth, which had yelled so loudly at Dante, was cut up and bloody, his jaw looking like a spaghetti-and-meatballs gone wrong. His throat was slashed, bringing parts of his esophagus into view. It lay like a worm in his throat, soaked in blood. The rest of his body was coated in blood, which had run down from his face. Dante had never experienced true horror. Never. But now, he had. And it was the worst feeling ever. The rest of the class must have agreed with them, for they all screamed in terror, obviously appalled and horrified.

Dante blinked and squinted his eyes as though to attempt to relieve him from a dream, but it was unsuccessful. The horror was true. Dante and the rest of his class were, in any way possible…

Going to die.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

5:00-6:00 AM, Day One. Game Initiate.

Dante couldn't believe it. The man that students had feared and despised, the man who had so vigilantly pursued academic perfection from his class was dead.

He had once been the feared teacher who sported a shiny, bald, head and a furrowed brow, making him look like the most commanding of animals, the bald eagle. Now, as Dante looked at him, he was a mass of tangled and bloody flesh, a horror of skin and bone, an abomination of the government's insanity.

Students were running about, trying to find ways to escape. They pounded frantically at the windows, screaming and crying. The man at the front beckoned for his soldiers to take Mr. Rogers away, which they did. Although Mr. Rogers was gone, the sickening odor of death and blood reeked in the air, causing poor Peter Orwell to vomit a third time in the corner of the room, which was, throughout this whole mindless rampage of terrified students, avoided. Knowing this let Dante think his class had some amount of sanity left, which comforted him, though he still felt terrible.

"Alright! You can stop now! The bad man is gone!" The man at the front of the room called sarcastically at the frantic class with a wide grin on his face. The soldiers behind him laughed, and, after no response from the students in letting up, the man beckoned for the soldiers to do something.

The soldiers fired warning shots throughout the room, which sent bullets ricocheting of the roof and floor.

"Fuck!" Dante looked over at Ike, who was clutching his left arm.

Dante reached over and tried to find some sort of way as to comfort Ike. As this happened the rest of the class finally managed to calm down, and they sat down in the different parts of the class, with sorrowful expressions upon their face, as though each any every one of their young souls had given up hope.

Ike seethed through his teeth, and clutched his bloody arm, which had been penetrated by a bullet. The man at the front diverted his attention from Ike and looked over the rest of the class.

"Well, now that he's gone and that you've calmed down, we can try and get things started," he said.

"Yes. Now that that's over with, there's nothing left to do but put on your collars and start the game."

The same soldier who had called for Mr. Rogers corpse walked through the door and called for The Hawk eyes. The soldier then received some sort of tray bearing what looked like many silver bands, which he pushed into the room on its wheels and set in front of the counter, which the man was behind.

"Alright everyone. Now, one at a time, you're gonna get those collars clipped on, then you're gonna pick up the bag you took from home, you'll get the supplies bag from one of these soldiers (as he said this, the same soldier received a rack full of the same bags as the woman had shown), and you'll leave through the door. This is, after I call your name of course. Alright, and without any further delay, let the game begin! Boy # 1, Cedric Rodriguez!"

Cedric stood up, his normally brown face incredibly pale; his blob-like black hair perched uncomfortably on his fine head. He quivered as he picked up his bag, his thin golf shirt clinging uncomfortably to the sweat coating his body. He went over to the collar table, where another one of the soldiers grabbed a collar and pinned it around Cedric's neck. Cedric grunted and frowned, reaching behind to feel the collar.

"Oh, and one more thing kids. Don't screw around with those; if you try to take them off, then BOOM!"

A few kids in the class gasped, though Dante had suspected this.

Cedric then jogged towards the exit, had a supply bag tossed at him from a soldier, which he awkwardly received, then he left. The game had begun.

"Girl #1, Alex Jeffery!" Alex had been sitting beside her friend, Ryan Dick. She hugged him, retrieved her bag, received a collar, got a bag and left after waving to everyone else.

"Boy #2, Jesmund Bosworth!" Jesmund stood up, his purple football jacket making him look even more bulky than he already was, bent down for a kiss from Nicole, retrieved his bag, then he got a collar, after which receiving he grunted uncomfortably. He left after retrieving his supply bag and exchanging lengthy glances with Nicole.

"Girl #2, Brianne Brianson!" The normal girl bid goodbye to her circle of friends, retrieved her things and left.

"Boy #3, Sid Algar!" Sid let out a screech of victory, skipped to his collar, which he gladly received, although Dante could've sworn Sid winced as the collar snapped around his neck. They must've been tight. Sid laughed maniacally after retrieving his supply bag, and then as he stood at the exit, yelled, "You're all dead. Know this; Sid Algar'll be the last thing any of you see!" Sid laughed once more and sprinted out through the hallway, out of sight. The rest of the kids exchanged nervous glances. Although Sid was known as a loner, people hadn't expected someone to go nuts so early. Though, Dante had changed his mind about Sid's mental stability. He was perfectly normal… This was Sid Algar.

"Girl #3, Jennifer Penray!" The leader of the delinquents stood up, licked her lips, and retrieved her things. She glanced at her cronies, then left.

"Boy # 4, Clayton Peticlerc!" Nervous Clayton Peticlerc, the class artist, stood up, clutching his personal bag. His face trembled with fear, as did his knobbly knees which shook uncontrollably. Clayton whimpered as the metallic collar clipped around his neck, and he stumbled clumsily to receive his supply bag. He caught the bag awkwardly and fell onto his side. Whimpering once again, he stood up and suddenly sprinted through the hallway.

"Girl # 4, Hayley Campbell!" Jennifer Penray's friend hurriedly retrieved her things and exited the class quickly. She and Jennifer were obviously going to meet up, which was convenient with their close exits.

"Boy # 5, Dante Zolianis!" Dante gasped, looked up at the man, and sighed. He sat, staring in front of him, for a few seconds, then, stood up bade goodbye to Ike, then got his collar. It was increasingly uncomfortable, snapping around his neck and squeezing everything. The painful feeling in his throat had still not subsided, and, coupled with the compression from the necklace, was quite an aggravating feeling. He picked up his day bag after, then, proceeded to get the green bag. The soldier chucked it at him, which Dante caught in the stomach, knocking him off balance and winding him. The soldier laughed, and as Dante looked back, he exchanged glances with Ruby. She was teary-eyed, sitting with Vanessa Mosolf and Erin. She smiled at him amidst her damp complexion, and Dante returned the smile. He then took one last glance at Ike, nodded, and left.

The hallway in front of him was long, with dim lights spanning the distance, each placed about a meter apart. His footsteps echoed throughout the thin hall, and he thought he heard the man back in the classroom call the name of the next student, Beth Bournes. Knowing this, he hastened his steps and sped into a steady jog. The weight of his supply bag was immense; he wondered what weapon he had received. He continued running, finally reaching the end of the hallway. As soon as he reached the end of the hallway, the left route took him outside.

Upon arriving outside, he was surprised to see there was no commotion regarding Sid. Dante figured he would've just killed anyone who came out… He must've got a crappy weapon. Dante reached into his bag and grabbed what felt like a wooden stick, though it was immensely heavy. Upon lifting it slowly out of his bag, he marveled at the wonder which was his weapon. It was a spear. Long and slender, the tip on the end shined in the moonlight, reflecting its light into the foliage surrounding Dante. Dante realized there was another piece to the spear; he reached into his bag and pulled out a small handle. When screwed together, the two pieces made a 6-foot long pole. Dante examined the initial piece; it was bearing a red strap, which he figured must be a way to carry it. He snapped the strap unto his shoulder, and it lay comfortably along his back. He looked around his surroundings; the building was surrounded by several pine trees and trees which had swooping branches decorated with leaves. The ground was covered in dirt, with patches of grass jutting upward in a few spots. Dante went over his options; he could wait for Ike… and maybe Ruby, too, or assume he would run into those two later in the game. He figured it was unlikely he would run into them both later, but he knew hiding in the bushes waiting for someone while there were still 21 students waiting to come out. Upon hearing footsteps behind him in the hallway, Dante sprinted into the trees and hid behind a low bush, his spear dangling about as he moved.

Beth Bournes stood exactly where Dante had just been standing and looked around her surroundings. She had been crying earlier, as well. Her brown hair which was tied back into a ponytail was now unkempt, and her makeup was running. She sobbed and ran down a path which led west.

Dante felt sorry for the girls; they had much to look forward to. Graduation in two years, boyfriends, sports, academics and their families… Hey, his family, too. Upon realizing he had a 1/48 chance upon surviving, Dante slid back onto his rear and sat in the dirt, burying his face in his hands. How he missed his parents and brothers, especially Kevin. Would Dante ever see him again?

More footsteps ricocheted throughout the thin hallway and outside. Upon looking back to the hall, Dante saw that the building must have been an old abandoned school. Also, when he focused his attention to his surroundings, he noticed that they were near the ocean. Wow… near the ocean? They took us from Cochrane, to, well… Vancouver? Those bastards.

James Crabbot exited the school, panting horribly. For a boy as bulky as James, all this must be hard on him. James was overweight, choosing to not participate in future gym classes at school. He was more into literature and political science; both of his parents were lawyers. James, too, took the path to the west, so Beth and him were likely to encounter each other. He scampered hurriedly down the path and out of sight.

Checking his watch, Dante realized it was 4:47 AM. He exhaled and laid his head upon his hands, continuing to watch the school's exit.

Dante had always been a frontrunner in the class' athletics. While Ike was scrawny and small, Dante was somewhat taller and more muscular, though he was still pretty skinny. He had excelled in basketball and volleyball, sports where his height aided him most exceptionally. Ike had only been good at baseball. He played it when he was younger but quit when they reached junior high. While Dante excelled in most of the sports Class 1 participated in during gym class, there were others who specialized in athletics. Shane Appleby was always the fastest runner in Class 1, though Sid Algar, Jesmund Bosworth, and Michael Ratcliffe were also very skilled. Sid was superior in most sports which required patience and accuracy, like golf and archery, though Shane could still outrun him. Jesmund was good when the class played touch football, and Michael was fast and small, making him good at dodge ball. Nick Palagian was a skilled fighter and a strong weightlifter.

More footsteps, and Lindsey Bartholemew exited the school. She quickly pulled out her map, then scampered off through the trees to the south. Dante figured she and Brianne, a good friend of hers, must've been planning on meeting at a designated area.

Dante then realized how tired he was, and how his head ached from falling on the bus. He rubbed it with his left hand, then rested back on the ground. His eyes tried to close themselves, though, no matter how tired he was, Dante would _not_ let himself fall asleep. No way.

Dante waited as more students passed; Devin Gryznatch, the irritable drummer, was actually the first one Dante saw who pulled out his weapon on the spot. It was a can of mace, which Dante figured could prove quite useful in fights. Dante sighed as he imagined the sight of his fellow classmates killing each other…

More students passed as time did with them; Whitney Sabourin, who, Dante must've figured, was left behind by her delinquent friends. She wasn't as quick as Hayley when it came to exiting the building. Instead, she went along the side of the school and headed north. Ryan Dick then followed, moving very quickly. He obviously was looking for Alex Jeffery. Michelle Smith, upon exiting the school burst into tears, and took to moving through the foliage, heading east. Miles Templeton tripped on his way out of the school, dropping all of his things. His supply bag split open and out came his food supplies and flashlight, as well as a 50-dollar bill, which, to his inconvenience, must have been his weapon. Miles, being slow to the uptake, first thanked the gods for letting him find a 50-dollar bill. Then, realizing his situation tore it to pieces and swore, and then he gathered his things and proceeded northward. Erin Hill, one of Ruby's friends then followed. Upon realizing Erin was friends with Ruby, Dante figured he should ask her if they had any plans. He stood up and got Erin's attention.

"Erin," he called.

"Huh!" Erin turned around to face Dante. Her normally fair complexion which was complemented beautifully with make up looked panicked and sinister.

"Hey," Dante began. "You and Ruby hooking up? I'm waiting for Ike, I figured it'd be easier to travel in pairs," Erin backed away from Dante against the school wall, panting heavily. "Look," Dante stepped forward with his arm extended. "I don't wanna fight. I'm just asking, are you and Ruby planning on meeting?" Erin said nothing in return, but instead, reached into her supply bag and pulled out her weapon. It was a CZ-75 pistol. Dante crouched down and ran back into the bushes, but upon turning around, smashed his face into a tree. The objects in front of him went out of focus, but he squinted and blinked enough to regain full consciousness, upon which he ran into the foliage. He heard a shot from behind him, and then felt as though someone had poked him in the back with a branding iron. He yelped and fell forward on the ground, seething with pain. The bullet had hit him in the back, in the right side, just above his ribs. His face covered with mud, he stood back up and turned around to where Erin was. She was gone. Dante figured she must've run after thinking she might've just killed someone.

The pain in his back was unbearable. He blinked back tears as he rubbed where the bullet shot him, and then brought his hand in front of his face. There was less blood then Dante thought, though the pain about made up for it. He went back to his original position, hating Erin. What a bitch! I wasn't fucking planning on attacking! Fuck! I hope she dies! She'll get hers!

More students followed, poor Peter Orwell, who was a sickly pale had retreated hurriedly to the east, then small Evelyn Teegan came out. She checked her map, hoping that she would eventually run into her friend, Beth Bournes. She sobbed, sniveled, then took the path to the west, which was, coincidentally, the same path Beth had taken.

Tom Shelton then followed. He was holding his supply bag on his shoulder, wielding a machete in the other. His personal bag was gone. Dante assumed he had discarded it due to its obvious lack of usefulness. Tom took the path to the west, then disappeared into the bushes.

Stephanie Mitchell proceeded after Tom, her long blond hair reaching her waist. She was small and annoying, slowly walking out of the school. Dante scoffed and hoped she would leave as fast as possible. Tom looked quite shady; he could be playing the game. Her mouse-like complexion trembled with fear as she analyzed her plan of action. Dante thought he saw her glance his way. She eventually decided to take the same route as Tom, which, incidentally, was covered with footsteps. "How could she be so stupid?" Dante thought. "It's 5 AM and even I can see the fresh steps from here!" She then sprinted full speed into the foliage, leaving Dante to his lonesome.

* * *

Stephanie Mitchell, Girl Number 11, walked through the bushes after sprinting with all her speed. She had freaked out after seeing Dante Zolianis hiding in the bushes, with some sort of blade above him. She stopped her movement, thinking she was safe.

"God… why did I get put in this game? I haven't done anything to anyone!" She sat back against a tree, then took out her weapon from her bag. It was a belt. She sighed, thinking that such a useless weapon had pretty much decided her fate; she had no chance of surviving. There was no hope that someone as small, weak, and unintelligent as her could win this game. She wasn't even that beautiful. She had been made fun of by her peers throughout junior high school for being small and annoying. People often called her Mouse Girl or… well… pretty much any other name with any reference to a mouse. She sobbed and felt tears slide down her bony cheeks. God, if only she could see Ike Ferdez one last time. She had loved him since the beginning of the first semester. He was always nice to her; he had never insulted her. Though, when she thought about it, he had never actually spoken to her anyway.

Knowing this, she cried harder, letting it all out. She whimpered as more tears rolled down her cheeks, ruining her extensive makeup. She thought of home; her small cat Mr. Carrey, who was named after her favorite actor, her piano, which, unbeknownst to anyone aside from her small circle of friends, was quite a talent of Stephanie's, and of her room. Decorated with posters of beautiful woman and men alike, all of which she idolized. How she wished she was beautiful. She'd give anything.

The more and more she dwelled upon her home and past life, the more she cried. She cried and cried and cried, until finally something happened. A bush opposite the tiny clearing she was in rustled. She thought saw a face peek up from it, but she figured it was just a… a dog or something. She sighed as she silently cried against the tree. She buried her face into her hands, then saw another bush rustle, this time closer to her. She looked in its direction, but saw nothing. She sighed again and decided to have some water. She reached into her bag and pulled out a 591 ML water bottle (which was titled Coalition Water Supply), filled with crystal-clear goodness. She unfastened the lid and let it flow into her mouth. It tasted bitter, though it was still good. She cheered up after her refreshment, but then she heard another bush rustle. This time, it was right beside her. She stood up, belt in hand, as the bush rustled slightly once more. "W-… Who's there?" She called out.

"Hello? Anyone…?" She stared into the rustling bush, then, deciding it was nothing, sat back against the tree. Suddenly, she felt as though a person was behind her. She quickly turned around and saw the face of Tom Shelton, Boy Number 11. He had a long blade in one hand, which was raised high, while the other hand was clenched into a fist. This fist came crashing into Stephanie's jaw, sending her to the dirty ground (This is gonna ruin my clothes!). Tom then plunged the knife into Stephanie's side, watching as the blood flowed from the small gap between the hole his knife had and the surrounding flesh. Stephanie whimpered and gritted her teeth as the life she had flashed before her eyes…

Learning the piano…

Cuddling Mr. Carrey…

Seeing Ike Ferdez …

Her first recital…

And finding true friends.

Tom Shelton relinquished his grip on the knife, and panted heavily as he watched Stephanie's eyelids close. He sighed heavily, contemplating what he had just done.

He was a murderer.

Knowing this fueled his taste for the outside world; he wanted to be free again. How could a game be so fucking sinister? He took the knife from Stephanie's side, and swung it around so as to fling the excess blood off. Stephanie's corpse lay on its side in the middle of the small clearing, the moonlight highlighting her features. The knife had ripped a small hole in her white t-shirt, though no internal organs were visible amidst the flowing ruby liquid that was Stephanie's blood. Tom wiped the remaining blood on Stephanie's shirt, and then exited the clearing to try and find more people to eliminate.

GIRL # 11 STEPHANIE MITCHELL DEAD, 47 TO GO.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5—

6:00-7:00 AM, Day One.

Dante waited outside the school, hoping for the next batch of students to exit quickly. The last student to exit was Stephanie Mitchell, Girl Number 11, so Ike would be coming soon. Dante just hoped it would be quickly, seeing as tensions were running high.

The bullet wound from Erin Bournes ached terribly, though the bleeding had ceased. Dante rubbed the wound. Although it was from a gun, it didn't hurt anything inside of Dante; just a minor flesh wound, which Dante was grateful for.

Zachary Schmidt exited the building, his short hair perched elegantly atop his head. Although he looked like a snob, he was a joker at heart. He sprinted off to the south, most likely looking for Edward.

Lauren Johnson then emerged from the building. Upon her exit, she reached into her bag for her weapon. Dante could hear what sounded like a toy car set as she pulled it out. Although it wasn't anything close. It was a crossbow, with a small quiver full of ammunition. She smiled as she brandished it in the air. Dante didn't think Lauren would kill. She must have been pleased that she had a decent weapon to defend herself with.

Dante and Lauren had been friends in junior high, but things fell through when Dante developed a crush on her. One day, he asked her out, but Lauren shot him down. Since then, things have become too awkward for them to rekindle their relationship. Knowing this, Dante kept his distance from her. She ran off through the woods, her bags flying about and her crossbow held tightly in one hand.

Eric Steinbach sulked out of the school, his head drooping. Eric had obviously realized this was the end of him and Amber's relationship. Since there would only be one winner, and there is no hope of escaping in one piece, he was too depressed to be able to kill anyone. He took out the weapon that was inside of his bag; a hair dryer. He threw it to the ground and stalked off through the trees.

Kim Grawitch then followed. She took in her surroundings, absent-minded. She walked off to the west.

Michael Lees sprinted from the school so fast, he barely left a trail in his wake. Dante thought he saw him toting his flashlight.

Nicole Zimmel then emerged from the school, her makeup running and her face wet with tears. She sobbed and sniveled as she tried to decide which way to take. Without Jesmund by her to protect her, she didn't know what she was going to do. She decided to take the route to the east.

Lee Noble came out from the school, carrying a small spherical object. He looked around, trying to decide where he should go. It took him a while, but he decided to try and find shelter in the residential area to the south.

Janet Cayley exited the school, sneering at her surroundings. Her and Samantha Lynes were going to meet up, so she waited outside the school. Waiting outside the school? Dante raised an eyebrow. Even though only Ike was next, it was still a dumb idea.

Ike then made his way out of the school, shocked at how stupid Janet could be. "Dumb idiot! I could've been an axe-toting mad-man! What the hell is the matter with you! Are you fucking retarded?" Janet sneered and rolled her eyes, whereas Ike flipped her off and stomped along the dirt floor.

"Ike!" Dante stood up among the bushes, his spear sticking out from behind him. Upon hearing his name, Ike turned around to face Dante. "Dante. You were waiting for me all this time?" Ike was a little pale, though his jet-black hair provided a good enough contrast with his skin so as to make it look exaggerated.

"Yeah," Dante ruffled his hair and adjusted his spear. "I got shot though," he turned around and showed Ike the bullet wound.

"Fuck," Ike replied, raising his eyebrows. "It's pretty bloody. Who did it?"

"Erin," Dante swelled with hatred at the mere mention of Erin's name.

"Erin? I didn't know she'd do that," Ike said in disbelief.

"Well, she did. Let's get out of here." Dante beckoned for Ike to follow.

"Don't you want to wait for Ruby? You like her, don't you?"

"No! Not here!" Janet giggled with glee at the thought of a schoolboy crush. Oh, the gossip!

"Damnit, Ike." Dante slapped Ike and motioned for him to follow.

"Seriously, Dante. What if we don't see her? Or if…" Ike stopped at the thought of a fellow classmate being killed by another.

"Don't worry," Dante said. "I know how to find her."

Dante flipped Ike off and said, "Come on, let's get out of here. This bitch'll go crazy with the thought of… oh, what a retard."

The two of them then ambled through the forest, talking to each other about where the best spot will be.

* * *

10 or so minutes later…

Justin Lutley, Boy Number 21, exited the school. He had panicked somewhat in the room, it seemed like forever while he was waiting for his name to be called. It was only him and that new girl towards the end… He didn't even know her name. She was new. Without any emotional attachment to anyone, she wouldn't think twice about killing someone.

Justin's mind ran full of paranoia. There wasn't a single person he DIDN'T suspect. Except Cedric. The two of them went way too far back. There's no way Cedric would turn on Justin! No way, man.

Justin thought of where he would be able to find Cedric. The two of them didn't have enough time to agree upon a meeting place, seeing as Cedric was the first to leave. Justin sighed, thinking it would be nigh-impossible to find Cedric on an island so big.

Yes, they were on an island. The exact location was undisclosed, though Justin had assumed it'd be off the coast of the Pacific, the nearest coast to Cochrane which was in inland Alberta. They must be near Vancouver. The weather was pretty warm for it being so dark; the sky looked as though it was on fire as the sun was about to rise.

Justin reached into his bag and pulled out his weapon, which was a calculator… Or so it appeared. Justin tampered with the buttons on the "calculator," so as to find out what it's true use was. He pressed as many buttons as there were on the screen. There were two blue buttons, one with a + sign on it, and another with a – sign on it. There were to other buttons, a red one and a green one. Upon pressing the red one, the device turned itself off, and when he pressed the green one it turned on. The screen showed only one thing on it, a red blip with the number 21 inside of it. Justin poked the screen with his fingernail, attempting to weave some sort of fluky, technical magic upon it. He gave up on put it back in his pocket.

He ambled through the trees until he reached the edge. Justin marveled at the magnificent scenery showcased below him; it looked like a picture.

He was atop a great valley; in it's bed was a small lake, with a cabin at the edge of it. There was also another forest inside of it, tucked neatly inside. The bed of the valley looked like a … bowl. With, uh, broccoli, or peas and something, and uh, water. (Justin sucked at English.) Across the valley were houses, with trees surrounding them. Justin was facing south. To the east, there was some flat grass, which looked as though it stopped abruptly. A cliff, maybe? Along the east of the valley, there was a rocky wall, and at it's base was the cabin. It was pretty much isolated, one on side there was the cliff and on the other there was the lake. The person who resided there must have been quite isolated, for it was impossible for land transportation to reach this spot. Along the west, there were some more houses, and Justin could see a road. Below him along the hill was the same road, which looped around from the western edge along the north, then it snaked around the hill Justin was on top out of sight. Justin smiled, then ran down the hill. The road was empty. The community seemed bleak and empty, which seemed logical. The island had probably been evacuated prior to the game. Justin ran onto the road. From the edge of the road, he could see the lake at a closer view. The cabin had indeed been inhabited by a student. A boat was moored by itself at the cabin's dock.

Justin then tried his calculator once more. Pressing the green button, he saw the red 21 in the centre again. Then, he realized what this "calculator" was. It was a map! Well, not a map, but a student tracker. He looked into the corner of the device, and saw a red number 1. It was enclosed in a beige-colored rectangle. Justin put two and two together; the red 21 on the map was him! So, the red number one must have been…

Cedric! It had to have been. Justin was Boy Number 21, as was showcased in the student tracker, while Cedric was Boy Number 1, which was represented in his solitary red circle. Cedric was in the cabin on the far side of the lake. Justin could see the boat moored at the cabin's dock. The only problem was how would he get there? And if he can't get there, how will he get Cedric's attention? Looking again at his student tracker, Justin saw the red 1 had not moved from its spot. Justin thought that swimming would be a bad idea. There was no way he could not get his bags wet. Justin sat down on the edge of his side of the lake's dock, pondering.

Suddenly, he heard his name being called from a long way away. "Justin! Justin!" The call of Justin's name echoed throughout the valley, ricocheting off it's many hills and walls. Justin stood up, trying to find the source amidst the echoes. "Over here! The cabin!" Justin looked towards the cabin and saw what looked like a black blob amidst a stickman. It was Cedric! Justin leered against the opposing sun, grimacing. Cedric hopped into the boat moored at their dock and he began to row towards Justin's dock.

A minute or two later, Cedric arrived at the dock. Justin helped him out of the boat as Cedric panted heavily from the rowing.

"Hey, Ced!" Justin clapped Cedric on the back.

"Easy," Cedric replied. "It's tough rowing that boat alone."

"Don't worry about it," Justin was ecstatic. "Here, I'll get in and we'll row to the cabin together!" Cedric agreed, and the two threw Justin's bags into the boat. They then rowed the boat to the cabin's dock, got out and entered the cabin.

"Whoa…" Although from the outside the cabin looked small, the inside was roomy. There was next to nothing inside; stains on the walls from what must've been pictures or ornaments that were left for a long enough time to leave a permanent mark on the wood. There was a rug in the middle of the room, as well as Cedric's things tossed to and fro about the room. His weapon was a hatchet, shining in the beam of sunlight that burst through the window.

"I had to race Jesmund here," Cedric said. "He wanted it, too."

"You beat Jesmund? You?" Justin couldn't believe someone as skinny as Cedric had managed to beat someone as muscular as Jesmund.

"Yeah… What's your point?" Cedric eyed Justin suspiciously.

"Uhm… Nothing," Justin smirked slyly as Cedric continued eying him. "Where is a bathroom?"

"Out there. There's also a shed. I haven't checked if there's anymore food in it though. The bread they gave us tastes like ass, and the water is pretty much tasteless."

"Oh… Well that's good then," Justin sat down on the cabin floor as he said this. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes, at an obvious loss to say.

The game had taken a huge chunk out of Cedric and Justin's self confidence. The two of them were both quite humble to begin with, but upon the game beginning, the two realized that they were both lacking in physical fitness. However, they did have their smarts. Neither of them had received decent weapons either; Justin's weapon was useful, though, he couldn't exactly defend himself with it. The most it could do was aid in Justin and Cedric avoiding everyone else, assuming they weren't anyone to trust. Cedric had a hatchet, which was useful at close range, though in a game like this, guns were more likely to be effective. Plus, neither Cedric nor Justin had a useful amount of dexterity and strength required to wield it most diligently.

Justin sighed as he realized him and Cedric didn't stand much of a chance in this game. He laid back onto the floor, his hands behind his head, as Cedric sat in the opposite corner of the shack examining his hatchet.

* * *

Dante and Ike made their way through the woods, heading north. The two of them finally reached the edge of the woods. The sun was rising in the east; checking his watch, Dante saw it was 6:15 AM. The man in the school had stated that he would be making announcements every 6 hours on the sixes, so what was taking him?

Dante and Ike were atop a great hill. Below them, the hill became rocky. On the ground below them was a flat plateau on which a farm sat alone in the prairie. It's field was empty and muddy from rain. Further in front of them was the ocean. Dante figured the bastards had taken them to the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of maybe… Vancouver? Dante scoffed and turned to Ike, who was admiring the quaint scenery.

"Ike," Ike suddenly turned to face Dante, who was eying him with a look of 'What-do-we-do-now?'

Ike smirked and scratched his head.

"If we're looking for shelter, the farm would be good. However, it's in the middle of everything… It's likely that someone's already in there, or that someone would come in on us anyway if we stayed there." Dante agreed with this.

"Maybe there's a cave tucked in here amongst these rocks?" Dante suggested.

"Maybe," Ike began, "but it's likely that if we were to be found by a killer in there, there'd be no way out except the way he came in from. I think our best option is to keep looking, or just hide somewhere in the trees." The two of them continued walking, searching for good hideouts.

As they walked, neither of them dared to speak. Apart from the fact that neither completely trusted the other, the two were too scared to speak about their other classmates dying. Just as they reached a bend along the hill, a deafening blast emerged from an unknown source.

"What—what the fuck?" Ike staggered as he cupped his hands to his ears. As soon as the blast settled, feedback burst rapturously from the source, until finally, the noise settled and a dim fuzz hummed throughout the island.

The two boys looked at each other, as if to silently ask, "Do you know where the sound is coming from?" They then began to search the area, looking for the strange sound.

Suddenly, a voice cut out the fuzz, and it's call echoed throughout the entire island.

"Greetings, Class 1 of Cochrane High!" It was the man from the classroom. His cheerful voice broke the eerie silence of the island. "I hope you're all having fun out there! God knows the weather is beautiful. Just look at that sun! It's… it's so pretty…" Ike and Dante's eyes met, bewildered.

"He's gay," Ike stated. Dante laughed and continued listening to the mans report.

"Know what else is pretty? DEATH!" Upon hearing this, Dante looked at Ike, who was trying not to smile. As creepy as it was, they would've laughed in any other situation. "Yes, that's right folks. We've got a death!" Dante and Ike opened their ears to hear the first death. "The first death! Numero Uno! STEPHANIE MITCHELL!" Dante nodded, expecting it to be her. So that's that then. It was Tom.

"It was Tom," Dante said to Ike. "I know it."

Ike nodded in response, and the two continued their journey.

"Well? Fun, huh? Okay, now for your forbidden zones; at 7:00, A-4. That's A-4 at seven o clock. At nine o' clock, I-4. At nine o' clock, I-4. And, at 11:00, E-1. At 11:00, E-1. Don't forget folks! Now, until noon, good luck!" The fuzz cut out and the man's voice disappeared.

After marking the forbidden zones on their maps, Dante and Ike continued their search for a suitable hiding place.

"That sucks. Stephanie Mitchell's already dead," Dante said.

"Yeah… Brianne told me she liked me," Ike replied.

"Ew," Dante said, but after saying this, he felt terrible.

"Haha… Jesus, Dante. How subtle of you," Ike laughed, which made Dante feel better. "Jeez, what a jackass I am," Dante thought.

The two then wandered off towards the west.

* * *

Ryan Dick, Boy Number Eight, sat in a clearing in along the borders of B3 and C3, not too far west of the school.

Upon leaving the school in eighth place, he had decided to hide until the rest of the students cleared out. They were all dangerous, he figured. He didn't care if he died in this game, as long as he got to see Alex again… His best friend. How was he supposed to survive in this game without Alex? She'd know what to do. She'd help him out. But Ryan had no clue where she was. She was the second person to leave, after Rodriguez, the quiet Spanish kid.

Ryan had been trying to find out where Alex may have hidden herself, though it was no good. He knew he couldn't assume where Alex was hiding because of her personality. He had been dissecting his absurd thoughts as he sat pondering in the trees earlier, thinking, "Okay, Alex likes trees. Maybe she's hiding in the trees! What's her favorite letter… D? Maybe she's in, uhm, D3? HAH! Yeah! Wait, her favorite letter is G! And if she likes G, then she's on the shore… Which means she doesn't like trees… sigh." Ryan ran through thoughts like these for a whole hour until he realized there was no way he could accurately predict Alex's exact location. He had given up hope and decided to rest up against a nearby tree trunk, trying to assemble a game strategy.

He didn't want to kill; his weapon, which was a shuriken, was difficult to use. It had an awkward shape, and he knew he had to throw it, though he wasn't exactly sure how. He had tried throwing at the tree on the opposite end of the clearing as practice, though all that happened is he'd just throw the shuriken straight down, or it would wobble in mid air and collide with the tree with one of it's blunt edges. He had give up hope trying that, too, and had decided just to rest.

Basically, Ryan knew that his only goal in this game was to find Alex. Nothing else would satisfy Ryan. He didn't even care if he died trying to find her…

47 STUDENTS REMAIN


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6—

7:00 – 8:00 AM, Day One.

Dante and Ike walked along the hill, surveying the contents of the island below them. They were searching for a good hiding spot, but had so far come to no conclusions as to where they could hide.

"Hey, have you even checked your weapon yet?" Dante stroked the tip of his spear as he said this, feeling for how sharp it was.

"Good idea. I probably should, huh?" Ike reached into his supply bag, and pulled out what looked like two blades. It was a pair of scissors. "Eh," Ike said. "I think I could defend myself with this."

"Are you nuts? That's a piece of shit. You won't be able to do anything," Dante scoffed as Ike looked at his scissors. Ike exhaled and pretended to stab. "Hehe," Ike laughed as he did this.

The two continued looking. They had reached low, rocky mountains now, and through this mountain range ran another road. "We're not getting anywhere," Dante said. "Should we just walk down the hill and see if we can find something?" After a few hours of searching to no avail, Dante was up for anything.

"Sure," Ike replied. He shrugged his shoulders and played with his scissors as he said this.

The two of them trotted down the hill, looking at the mountains. They looked majestic in the morning sun.

"Hey!" Dante looked over at where Ike was. Ike was standing behind a rock. Dante ran over to behind the rock and saw what Ike was staring at.

"Wow…" Dante looked in awe at what Ike had seen. It was a small shack, hidden from the top of the hill. It was extremely small, it's roof in shambles, though it had a door and windows. It's roof was slanted, hidden underneath drooping tree branches. It was basically in a small nook in the hill, facing the mountains to the east. Dante walked in through the door. It was very small. It must have been a fort made by some kids who had lived here before the game.

"This is perfect," Ike said as he walked in. "No one will find us. No one."

The interior of the shack was as big as a single bedroom, the musty walls covered with stains, the dirt floor beneath them dusty. There was a poster on the room which read, "Play Fair!" Dante thought this was an odd thing for the room to have. He sat down in a corner, resting his head against the wall. Ike and Dante sat, neither of them knowing what to say. All they knew is this hideout could protect them… for now.

* * *

Ruby Fetega (Girl #17) walked along the grass, looking for… anything, really. She hadn't seen anyone along the way, nor had she found a place to stay. Her weapon, a hockey stick, wasn't of much use. It was blunt, but it was fragile. One hit and it'd break. She sighed as she walked along the grass of sector D3. This was just outside the forest where the school was. She walked into the forest, hoping to find people.

Ruby was depressed. She had everything else left in life to look forward to before this game took everything away… Only one student would win. How could she manage to out-live 40 other students? (Stephanie was already dead, making it 40.) Then again… She figured everyone else was thinking the same thing……

It was February, and she was at the school dance. She hadn't gone with any boy, but instead had gone with her two friends, Vanessa and Erin. Like Dante, she was popular, though she chose the people who she liked to be friends, not the people who were popular.

"Hey, Ruby! Talked to Greg lately?" Vanessa leered as she called out to Jade. Greg was in grade 12. He was into Ruby, though the feelings weren't mutual. Ruby thought he was obnoxious and always trying to show off in front of her, so she had tried her best to ignore him and avoid him. She rolled her eyes and walked into the school gymnasium with the two girls.

She saw Greg scanning the doors for her presence; he was surrounded by a group of his friends. Upon seeing her, Greg began to whoop and holler loudly and annoyingly. Instinctively, Ruby turned around to investigate the source of the noise. Greg was pretending to break-dance, though he was getting a good laugh from his friends. Greg sat up and made eye contact with Ruby. He smiled hopefully as he sat in the middle of his crowd. Ruby rolled her eyes and walked away.

She spent most of the dance mingling with her friends, until it was time to leave. Upon leaving the school, she walked into the parking lot with Vanessa and Erin. Greg then came running out of the school.

"Hey! Ruby!" He panted as he ran up to her. "You, uhm, wanna go to the point with me?" The point was the place where generic things from movies happened.

"No! That's gross! I hardly know you!" She glared at Greg, hardly believing Greg would say something so absurd.

"Oh, come on! It's not like that! I just wanna hang out!" Greg's black hair swung as his head did.

"No. No way." Ruby turned her head, tossing her multi-color hair. She walked away with Vanessa and Erin, who giggled at Greg, who was holding his arms out as though he were holding two bowling balls.

"Come on! R-ruby!" He ran up to the three girls, trying some more to get Ruby to come with him.

"Fuck off, man," it was Dante Zolianis, the boy who was in the band that everyone liked. His best friend, Ike Ferdez was alongside him, his arms crossed.

"Hah… What do you know, jackass?" Greg stood up, rolling up his sleeves as he said this.

"What… what're you rolling up your sleeves for? The shower circle jerk isn't until tomorrow." Dante pretended he was masturbating as he said this. Ike laughed, as did Vanessa and Erin. Ruby smiled as she saw Dante.

"Hah… You've got a lot of nerve, jackass," Greg scoffed and scratched his forehead as he said this.

"Come up with a new insult and try again, JACKASS," Dante mockingly imitated Greg, while he danced like a clown on the cement pavement. Greg wasted no time in rushing towards Dante, fists flailing. Dante hadn't been expecting this, and was sent crashing into the pavement with a left hook. Ike attempted to wrestle Greg off, but Greg's 6'4 bulk prevented the scrawny 5'6 Ike from doing so. Greg shoved Ike aside and rolled Dante, who was clutching a bloody nose face down on the pavement over. He then reeled back his right fist, sending it careening into Dante's left eye. Dante yelped and managed to stand up, one hand clutching his eye and the other his nose.

Dante managed to retaliate, relinquishing the grip on his nose to send an uppercut at Greg. This missed, and instead, Greg dodged and elbowed Dante in the ribs. Dante was winded, and he fell to his knees panting. Ike yelled and ran toward Greg, punching him in the stomach and face. Greg reeled back from the two blows, then retaliated, sending Ike to the floor with a blow to the side of the face.

"Hahaha… All talk, huh faggot?" Greg walked up to Dante, who was now on the floor trying to regain his breath. "I figured something from a guy who looks as gay as you," Greg reached into his pockets and pulled out a knife. "I won't spare you. You'll have to pay for this."

"No!" Ike sat up and charged Greg, but Greg punched him in the stomach.

"Greg, stop!" Ruby spoke up after watching Dante get beaten so handily. "Leave him alone!"

Greg stood with the knife in one hand, his other pulling Dante's hair to let him face up. Dante's eye was red, a bruise was blossoming. The blood from his nose ran down the front of his face, staining his shirt. Greg sighed, smashed Dante's face into the ground, spat on his head and walked towards his car. He stepped inside, turned it on and drove out of the parking lot down the road.

Ike crawled over to Dante, who had his hands covering his face. Blood dripped onto the cement pavement, while Ruby and the two girls ran over to the two boys.

"Are you all right?" Ruby leant over to try and meet Dante's face.

"Mmf," Dante hardly moved as he said this.

"Let's get you cleaned up," said Vanessa, as she grabbed Dante's arm.

"No," Dante sat up on his own as he said this. His nose was soaked in blood, his eye puffy, and he had a cut or two on his lip. His forehead was red from the ground smash, and the blood had soaked pretty much all of his clothes. Dante sighed and stared at the ground.

"I'll take him to my place," said Ike, who wrapped his arm around Dante's shoulders and helped him get up. The two of them then walked out of the parking lot to Ike's house.

Ruby never forgot that. Dante had stood up for her against that prick Greg. She was thankful he was so brave. Though… ever since then, he had always acted shy around her.

She stroked her bracelets, which were clinging uncomfortably to her wrists. She decided she wasn't gonna need them anyway, and discarded them. She flexed his fingers with one hand as she stroked her flexing wrist with the other. She walked through the forest, brushing branches and spider-webs out of the way as she did. Suddenly, she came across a small clearing. She squinted at what looked like a pile of rocks lying side by side. She walked up to it apprehensively, eyeing it suspiciously. As she got closer, the object came into focus better. Ruby was looking against the sunlight, so the object was only a silhouette.

She was now right beside it. Golden string ran down the side Ruby could see. She brushed it, and poked the rock bundle hard. It didn't move. Ruby, realizing what this "rock bundle" could've been, walked around to it's opposite side. As she faced the same way as the sunlight, the object was easier to see. It was indeed no rock bundle. It was Stephanie Mitchell.

Ruby shrieked and backed up. Realizing how shrieking could get her noticed, she clapped her hand to her mouth and stared at the dead classmate with a feeling of horror. Stephanie's eyes were closed, but her mouth was open slightly. Her small body laid stiff on the grass, her legs and lower torso soaked in blood. Ruby calmed herself down and walked up to Stephanie. She poked her arm. It was solid, not moving from her body. Rigor mortis must have set in. A hole was in her side, where her stomach was. Ruby assumed it was a knife wound, and also assumed that the knife had pierced one of her internal organs. It must have gone in far in order to be the only thing that killed her. It also bled a lot, so it must have been a deep wound. Ruby closed her eyes and silently mourned for Stephanie. She then walked out of the woods they way she came. She sat down, checking her map. There was nothing worth noting… Though…

There was a clinic on the map that she hadn't seen before. It lay in sector H1, on a peninsula of the island. She figured she could stay there… It was a long walk though. She set off at a brisk pace, without even thinking of the ramifications of staying in a place which will more than likely be inhabited one time or another.

* * *

Taylor Grandent, Boy Number Eighteen, woke up from his nap in the middle of a store named Castle of Furniture Depot. He smoothed his slicked-back black hair and straightened his glasses, which had been knocked askew as he slept. He sighed, sitting in the chair he had fallen asleep in.

Taylor had exited the school with a few students left, just after Ruby Fetega. He had decided on the spot where he was gonna go, which was the store part of the town. Upon arrival at the store section of town, he found the name of the town was Fortress Island. He couldn't find out where it was, though. Logic would dictate that the students were taken to the nearest ocean available, which was in this case the Pacific Ocean, which was to the west of Taylor and the rest of the student's hometown of Cochrane. Taylor missed home. He knew he didn't have much of a chance to survive in this game. He was out of shape, though he was smart. It had always been Taylor's dream to become Valedictorian when the class graduated. He thought he had what it took, too. He was smart, polite, sophisticated, and mature.

He just missed his home. Taylor didn't like change; he was a stickler for the oldies. And being put from the environment of a loving family in suburban Cochrane into a game where students are forced to kill each other was quite the example of change.

His weapon was an axe, though he knew he wasn't going to use this. He'd make allies. People who he could rely on, and people who could rely on him. They would work together… Though the problem was, he hadn't seen anyone.

Taylor got up from his chair and rummaged through his personal bag. He found a picture of his family, which featured an older sister, who was at the University of Michigan studying biology. She was in her second year there. He also had a younger sister, who was 3 years younger than him, and a younger brother, who was 6 years younger than him. His father died when he was 8 of a heart attack. He had been in office under the prime minister at his death. He had been elected in the Cochrane constituency during elections four times running at that point.

Taylor missed his father like nothing else, but he had always had his mother. His mother was a woman who had tried her best to get through her husband's death while raising four children at the same time. She was strong-willed, independent, and resourceful. Taylor always relied on his mother for support, and shared her belief about the strength of family.

As Taylor stared at the picture of his family, tears fell down his cheeks. He didn't even notice them. He just stared… thinking of how much he'd like to be home.

* * *

Dante sat in the corner of the shack he and Ike had taken up residence in. Ike sat in the opposite corner, playing with his fingernails. Dante stared at him, then pushed himself further up the wall. He was starting to feel light-headed. The bullet wound's pain had officially subsided, though it now felt warm and uncomfortable. Dante hadn't attempted to take the bullet out, nor had he asked Ike to do so. If he was able to see his wound, he would think twice though. Dante brushed sweat off of his forehead as he tried to maintain focus.

Ike suddenly noticed Dante, who was fidgeting almost non-stop. He frowned as Dante wiped sweat off his forehead, pushed himself up on the wall, rolled over, fell on his side, wiped more sweat, and loosened his shirt, anything he could do to change how he was sitting.

"You're not feeling well," Ike said.

"Gee… you… can tell?" Dante panted with the most simple of sentence structures.

"Four syllables and you can barely speak? Wow. You're sick." Ike scoffed as Dante lay back against the wall, closing his eyes. "Wait… Take off your shirt."

"Oh my god, now you're taking advantage of me while I'm physically handicapped. I knew this day would come," Dante laughed as he said this.

Ike grinned, then said, "No, seriously. Just do it."

Dante caught on to what Ike was getting at and took off his ebony-red Mars Volta t-shirt.

"Kay, now gimme a spin." Ike laughed as Dante rolled his eyes and wiped his forehead. "Kidding. Turn around."

Dante did so, and Ike's assumptions proved accurate.

The wounded portion of Dante's back had turned a dark purple. Tinges of green were embedded in the sea of purple, while the bullet wound lay like a crater in Dante's back.

"Yeah… you've got an infection." Ike sighed as he said this. 'What a pain in the ass! That's gonna bring us down.'

"Nooo…" Dante moaned as he said this. He put his shirt back on and leant back against the wall.

"That sucks. There's nothing on this island. Now all we can do is hope it subsides by itself." Ike stared at Dante, who was falling asleep in the corner.

"Man…" Dante breathed heavily and pushed the hair out of his face. The smell from Dante's infection began to infect the room.

"Ugh. It smells. You smell." Ike raised his shirt collar onto his nose and went out through the door. Dante lay by himself in the corner, breathing heavily.

"Wow… I'm totally on fire." Dante walked out of the room after Ike. He began to notice the smell of his rotting flesh too. He gagged as he walked through the open door. Ike was sitting on the hill above the shack, staring out through the mountains at the sea. Dante sat up on the hill beside Ike, lying back on his elbows.

"We have to do something about that," Ike said. "You've got a fever, now, and if we don't do anything, all it can do is get worse. I don't think infections ever subside." Ike sat frowning, looking out towards the sea.

…

"You like anyone, Ike?" Dante and Ike were at Dante's house.

"You suck," Ike replied.

Dante laughed and lay on his bed. Ike was on the floor playing Earthbound and Dante's old SNES. Dante loved that piece of junk… It was a collector's item. Foreign imports were hard to come by under the Coalition's rule. That's why hardly anyone got to play video games. Ike had actually managed to get in his own SiphonPlayer, the new Japanese video game console. It was amazing…

Though Earthbound was too classic to pass up. As Ike controlled Ness while he fought The New Age Retro Hippie, Dante laughed at the ridiculous enemy and continued reading his book, which was about Two Brothers. It was a sweet book… it was about, uhm, two brothers. Obviously. They basically did their own thing, apart from anyone else. Speaking their mind, doing their own dues. They weren't superheroes or anything; they were just moral preservers of a new age. An age in which equality dominated, though the Coalition's idea of equality was if everyone is the exact same, then nothing's different. This book displayed equality as the same position in the Coalition's economy, though everyone had differing morals and values. It was a book in which, though everyone was equal, peace reigned over government oppression. Dante and Ike sometimes thought of themselves as the Two Brothers. It was cool, to them, anyway.

"Seriously, though," Dante said. "Do you like anyone?" Dante felt childish as he said this. It was immature, sure, but around Ike, it just made things worse.

"No," Ike said as he mashed the SNES' buttons vigorously. "I don't have time for that. I'm a busy man."

"A man who hasn't hit puberty." The two of them laughed as they pursued their respective activities.

Dante laughed as he thought of this past occasion… Though Dante and Ike were best friends, and had been for years, he didn't know much about Ike. He kept to himself. It was one of his unique traits. However, when the goings got tough, Ike was always there for Dante.

Dante knew his brother Kevin would always be there for him when he needed advice, but Kevin was never with Dante when they had accidentally thrown a rock at a cop car. When Dante had gotten in that fight with that Greg asshole who was harassing Ruby. When Dante had needed to copy an assignment. When Dante had to defend himself from Mr. Rogers, Ike was there with him. For those reasons, Dante cared for Ike. And Dante knew Ike cared for him. They relied on each other, they played off on each other, and they copied answers on tests from each other.

Dante thought of the once proud Mr. Rogers, who commanded the class with an iron fist. He thought of how he must have died… So horribly. He must've been helpless. He never exactly assumed Mr. Rogers would fight, though Mr. Rogers was intimidating enough to drive people back.

He then thought of how Tom had killed Stephanie, and he knew it was him. He had a machete… things could've gotten bad. Stephanie hadn't taken out her weapon while Dante had seen her. It could've been a good weapon, but it didn't matter. Stephanie didn't seem the type who'd be able to fight anyway.

All this thinking got Dante tired, and he rested his head against the grassy hill. Ike sat beside him, still staring out towards the ocean. It was nearly 8:00, and nothing special had happened to them. Though Dante preferred this, he would at least like some action… or to see Ruby.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7—

8:00 – 9:00 AM, Day One.

Dante was feverish to the point of deliriousness. He was having trouble seeing straight, and it was pretty much impossible to bring the hand he held an inch in front of his face into focus. The sun drained the last of Dante's energy, sapping his will to sit up. Dante collapsed on the grass, trying to find a cold spot. The wound on his back from the bullet shot by Erin 3 or so hours ago wasn't exactly painful, though it had this odd feeling on it. It was as though someone was applying pressure to it… It throbbed a little as Dante moved, and he could feel it burn with fever.

Ike, meanwhile, had sat idly watching as Dante rolled around on the grass. Dante groaned as he shuffled the grass, trying to tear it out so he could lay on the cold dirt. At least, he wanted it to be cold. Everything seemed like it was on fire to him. The grass, the air, Ike's clothes, (he had tried leaning against Ike, but nothing doing) the air inside the shack, basically everything. He longed for a cold glass of water… ugh.

Dante lost consciousness. At this point, Ike became alarmed as Dante lay on the ground, his eyes closed and his mouth open, drooling a little. Ike stared at the passed out Dante for a while, somehow assuming he was dead. (You fucking idiot! He is not dead!) Ike quickly came to his senses, and lifted Dante's head from the grass.

Dante's eyes were closed, his mouth open as more drool condensed along the sides of his mouth. His face was red, his hair disheveled and messy. Ike quickly thought, 'There has to be something! This island's gotta have some sort of… doctor's office, or something!' Ike quickly pulled out his map, trying to find a place to cure Dante on a second look-through. Ike skimmed through the contents of the map, looking for anything that could have any sort of an inclination as to a doctor's office, or a clinic, anything!

Finally, in zone H1, Ike spotted a little turquoise dot which he hadn't seen before. He looked in the map legend and saw what it was; a clinic! Ike's mind raced as he thought of how he could safely transport Dante. The clinic was on a small peninsula on, well, the other side of the island. Dante and Ike's shack where they hung out was located in B3, just a zone away from the western shore of the island. Hidden in the mountains, it was the place where they thought they would be best concealed. However, the purpose of finding this establishment was now effectively destroyed what with Ike having to scale the entire diameter of the island to aid the sick Dante.

Ike picked up Dante, putting his hands under his waist, trying to lift him up. However, Ike couldn't handle Dante's weight. It wasn't as if Dante was heavy… Ike wasn't strong enough to carry Dante for more than 5 seconds, let alone an 1.5 kilometers across the island. Ike sighed as he watched Dante, whose mouth had now closed. The stench from his infection burned Ike's nostrils. Dante's spear extended from his back, looking as though he had a stone arrowhead just beside his head.

Ike sat down, trying to think of how he could attract a friend to help him lift Dante. Maybe Justin and Cedric…?

Ike laughed as he thought of his old friends, Justin and Cedric…

Wait. Old? They're my friends now, they always have been! Ike sighed and pushed his palms into his closed eyes, letting his elbows rest against his knees. He thought, I'm going paranoid already! Justin and Cedric are my friends. They wouldn't want to attack me, and vice versa! Come on!

Ike looked up again, examining the ocean, which was in most parts hidden by the low rocky mountains. His weapon of scissors did him no good… How could he contact his friends without bringing in enemies as well? It was a risk, that's for sure.

Ike lay back on the grass, becoming increasingly frustrated. He reached outward to his sides with his two arms and tore up the grass of which played host to his pounding fists.

"FUCK!" Ike called into the air as he lay. Ike's heart sped up, pounding against his chest. Ike was quite angry, you might say.

He stood up, then ran into the shack. Dante lay on the grass, barely moving. Ike, upon his arrival in the shack, kicked and punched at the walls, screaming swear words at the top of his lungs.

He extended his right fist into the poster of "Play Fair!" and it cracked against the wooden interior.

CRACK!

Ike yelped and examined the throbbing redness coating his fists. The pain scorched his knuckles, throbbing as Ike rubbed them on his chest, in an effort to ease the pain. He seethed as he became even angrier, until he heard a bush rustle outside. This launched Ike into paranoia. Unsheathing his scissors from… well, his jean pocket, he burst through the shack door, panting heavily, his eyes opened wickedly as they searched for intruders. He saw Dante, who remained still on the emerald carpet that was the grass, while the silent assailant crept unheard to Ike's keen ears.

Ike raised his eyebrows, in a sort of thing he thought was a battle stance, his scissors held like a knife, pointing parallel to the hill on which Dante lay. His arms were bent, as were his knees, making him look quite ridiculous, considering the bush rustling could've just been a gust of wind.

Suddenly, the bush rustled again. Ike immediately noticed its movement and crept up, raising his scissor hand high above his head as though he were about to plunge a holy sword into the mouth of an evil dragon as the final blow. His feet shuffled silently along the grass, as he remained in his hero stance. After about 15 seconds, Ike was right next to the tall bush, and he examined the ground below him. A solitary stick lay in the grass. He picked it up, then, jabbed through the bushes' leaves, trying to pinpoint the location of the creature.

"Ow!" A semi-bald head, shining in the dim sunlight, emerged from the foliage of the bush. The head of Ryan Dick, Boy Number Eight, arose with his hazel eyes frowning into Ike's sinister portrait.

"Ryan!" Ike was ecstatic. He reached his hand out to help Ryan, who was rubbing his head on where the branch must've poked him. Ryan reached out and met Ike's grip, and Ike helped Ryan pull himself up.

"Ow… Why'd you do that?" Ryan grinned as he saw Dante on the floor unconscious.

"I had to. You know this game. You could've been a killer." Ryan shrugged, holding his supply bag as he did. His green supply bag looked nearly empty; Ryan must've used up most of his food. His personal bag was gone. As Dante figured earlier, personal bags wouldn't be of much use, aside from maybe maintaining personal hygiene. Though, you could just put that in your supply bag and discard the rest of your personal bag, 'cause toothbrushes and toothpaste, deodorant, anything else, really, don't take up that much space.

"You're right." Ryan sat down on the grass beside Dante and delivered a massive body glove right in-between Dante's shoulder caps.

When Dante didn't respond, Ryan became skeptical. "He… he's not…" Ryan gave a look of disbelief, his face darting from Dante's limp stature to Ike's pensive look.

"… is he?" Ryan knit his brows as he delivered this final statement.

"No. He's unconscious… He's got a fever. Erin shot him earlier, now the wound is infected. It smells terrible… Look at it." Ike laughed as he said how Dante's wound smelled.

Ryan frowned, raising Dante's Volta t-shirt. The white sweater Dante had put on underneath, during a state of chills, was soaked with sweat, and clung to his shirt in its bath of perspiration. The wound was still purple, and looked raw. The smell was disgusting, indeed, and Ryan feigned vomiting as the stench entered his nostrils.

"Disgusting," Ryan laughed as he said this.

"This is where I need your help," Ike began. "I'm not as strong as you; I need to take Dante to the clinic in H-1. I know it's far… but…" Ike sighed. "I need your help."

Ryan frowned, scratched a spot beside his temple and nodded. "Yeah. I'll take him."

* * *

Clayton Peticlerc, the class artist, wandered along the shores of C1, on the northernmost part of the island. Having entered a state of petrifaction due to the terror he was in, he walked as though he had been mummified, his wide eyes staring straight ahead. Not a single thought ran through his mind; Clayton didn't even know where he was. Clayton didn't even… know. He was empty, his hopes and dreams lost because of the game. His dream of heading off to a fancy art college was effectively destroyed thanks to the almost guaranteed ticket to the gates of heaven. 

This is where a new type of paranoia set in. Clayton had thought for hours as the game had begun, what would happen to Clayton if he died? He was never religious… He was a sort of atheist. But as he thought of dying more and more, he knew it was more likely to happen here than anywhere else. He also began to wonder what would happen to him if he died.

What would happen if he got shoved into the fiery brimstone hell that was Satan's Domain? He'd be tortured endlessly, no doubt. His worst fears being manipulated into a manifestation of pain, stabbing him repeatedly from all angles. Satan would watch on, sitting on a throne of skulls, as his minions brought him glasses of champagne.

But what if Clayton were sent to heaven? He'd be able to coast once he was there. Or… what if he got to the gates of heaven… only to be denied? This thought was awful, and Clayton had tried to flush things from his mind. As he did, however, he became filled with undeniable terror, which paralyzed him from head to toe. Clayton then began to walk aimlessly along the northern beach, indifferent to the ocean's repeating pummeling of the waiting shore.

Clayton continued walking along the shore, his club held in one hand. Clayton wasn't strong, so his body had been leaning to his right, which was his good hand, because the weight of the club was much greater than the pulling motion that Clayton was trying to maintain so he could hold the club up.

From a distance, it looked as though Clayton were a shambling horror. This was at least what Kael Tennant, Boy Number Twenty thought, as him and his best friend, Lee Noble, emerged from a nearby seaside mansion.

"Who… is that?" Kael asked. He steadied the grip on his hunting rifle as he examined the strange creature from a distance with a pair of binoculars. These binoculars were from Kael's personal bag. He had put them in there since bird watching was one of his hobbies... Though if he were to have it his way, he'd be shooting them. But he couldn't on a field trip… However, he did have a hunting rifle.

"Looks like Clayton," Lee Noble looked over Kael's shoulder, taking the binoculars from his grip and looking through them. "Yeah, it's Clayton." Lee laughed as he watched Clayton the artist, normally calm and quiet, now zombified and mysterious. Fastened onto Lee's belt were four heavy, identical objects which were roughly the same size as pineapples. Grenades. Lee knew grenades would come in handy. He could throw them far, he was dexterous, and the grenades packed quite the punch. There were four of them; easily enough to take out any sort of threat.

Lee stood up beside Kael, outside of the mansion grounds. The two now stood on the same beach as Clayton, who was about 50 meters ahead of them, completely oblivious to their presence. Lee crept forward along the sand, silently, then turned around and beckoned Kael forward with an eager smile on his face. Kael laughed, not bothering to stifle the laughter. They crept forward together, as silently as possible. The waves pounded against the shore, making a calming sound. The sun was now high in the eastern sky, indicating the start of the day.

Clayton continued his walking amidst the laughing noises Kael and Lee were making. The two of them were having quite a time. They were now about 10 meters behind him because of Clayton's incredibly slow pace, which was easy to overtake, even stealthily.

Lee was now about a meter behind Clayton, when he beckoned for Kael to give him his hunting rifle.

Kael and Lee were best friends. Both of them were from outside Cochrane in the countryside, where they were neighbors. Even though they lived about a kilometer away from each other, they still liked calling themselves neighbors with one another. They were both skilled outdoorsman, though they were both academically inept. That didn't matter to the two of them, however, because they had both decided long ago, (or had they?) that they were going to inherit their respective fathers' land and continue the tradition of living on a farm and raising a family on that same farm. Kael was medium sized, with a large amount of stubble, as well as what Dante and Ike had dubbed a "pansy-stache". He also had a bit of a unibrow, with large amounts of zits covering his face. His hair was black, and stood up a large height from his head. Lee, on the other hand, was taller, his face more refined then ruffian Kael's. He had no stubble, due to the fact that he had controlled the amount of facial hair he wanted. He had a miniscule amount of zits, as well as short brown hair.

While Kael came from a family which was poor due to the lack of beef sales, Lee's family prospered from the amount of crops they grew. The Coalition supported health, and beef was not the sort of thing they deemed healthy. To them, the most obvious things were considered healthy.

Kael, not realizing that Lee may decide to shoot Clayton, handed him the gun, snickering. Lee received the rifle, then mouthed "Watch this," to Kael. Lee held the rifle high above his head, then shimmied his hands down the barrel to the butt of the rifle. He had both of his hands on the same side, as though he were going to push it. He then retracted both of his elbows, then, suddenly, extended them, sending the rifle butt crashing into the back of Clayton's skull.

Clayton fell silently to the ground, his head throbbing… ever so painfully. His vision was blurry, and he felt as though he were about to vomit.

"Who did that?" he thought. Clayton's world spun, even though he wasn't moving. The side of his head embedded in the sand, Clayton made an attempt to straighten himself out and tried pushing himself up with his two hands, which were awkwardly bent out from the sides of his body. Suddenly, his left arm exploded. At least, that's what he thought it felt like.

Above him, Kael smashed the butt of the rifle into Clayton's left elbow. The impact cracked the bone in Clayton's elbow, and his wrist flopped lazily as it extended from his elbow. Clayton screamed in agony, writhing on the sand.

"Haha," he thought. Even though he was screaming on the outside, he was laughing on the inside. "Guess what? Now I'm even more terrified!"

Meanwhile, the two assailants laughed heartily together as they saw the little twerp writhing on the ground.

"Hey, bitch!" yelled Kael as he bent over to yell in Clayton's ear. As Clayton opened his eyes and turned his head, he saw the face of that rural boy, Kael Tennant. His ugly, unshaven face grimaced menacingly in Clayton's sharp, bird-like face. Clayton's red hair, which was a little curly, flopped about in the wind. Clayton growled with pain, then tried to force himself up. However, as he attempted to bring his left arm around to push himself up, the pain in his elbow spiked horribly.

"AGGGGHHHHHH!" Clayton screamed as loud as he could as the branding iron plunged into his arm. As the branding iron exited the wound, a thousand birds swooped in from the sky of red, pecking at his arm with beaks made of glass. Clayton screamed, then as he looked over at the birds, they squawked at him rudely. The birds then began to disperse, and as the last bird exited Clayton's wound, a massive anvil fell from the sky on top of his elbow. The pounding sensation numbed the rest of Clayton's arm, though the pain in his elbow exploded, burning, AAAGGGHH. Clayton couldn't even describe it. It was nothing he had ever felt before. Any analogy he could come up with was nowhere near what he felt. "They really did a number on me, didn't they?"

"What a loser," Lee said. "Here, pass me the rifle." Kael laughed, then kicked Clayton, hard, in the ribs. Clayton was oblivious to this new pain. It was still nowhere near to the dynasty of electrocution, burning, freezing, that his elbow sported.

Lee laughed as he received the rifle, watching Clayton's reaction to the kick. Clayton groaned endlessly as he watched his wrist dangle with the slightest of his left arm's movements.

"Batter up!" Lee swung the rifle behind his head, but as he did, something happened. An earsplitting noise, followed by a leg splitting pain. Lee's ears rung after the massive howl, then, he realized that his leg was completely cut open. As the rifle made it's revolution along his back, he accidentally pulled the trigger. Since the rifle was pointed downward at this stage, it ran vertically through his right calf, tearing through his leg and through his foot, out of his shoe and into the sand. Lee screamed as he saw the bone of his leg. The back of his leg was basically cut open, it's contents open for everyone to see like an art display.

His bone extended vertically through his calf, surrounded by a vermillion flanking of flesh and blood. This same blood spilled from the gaping chasm, spilling onto Lee's hiking boots and onto the sand. Lee then stumbled, falling to the ground, still screaming. Clayton managed to look over and watch as Lee fell to the ground, clutching his leg. Kael, meanwhile, stood in shock as his friend lay writhing in the dusty sand.

This went on for five minutes, until something finally happened. Clayton noticed a third party a few steps behind Lee and Kael. This student stood with his hands in his pockets, his tuxedo-like jacket worn overtop of a white shirt. His head leaned back casually, an arrogant smirk on his face.

It was Sid Algar.

Clayton immediately realized this danger, then got up. (What? How did I do that?) Clayton was about to delve further into how he had managed to stand up until he noticed Kael and Lee staring at him. Clayton then sprinted towards the end of the beach, until he reached a house which was part of the same suburban complex as the mansion behind the other three students. He ran behind it, then out of sight.

Kael and Lee, meanwhile, were oblivious to Sid's presence. This was ironic, considering just earlier, they were the ones who were oblivious to someone else.

Kael finally came to his senses, leaning over to aid his ailing friend. Lee groaned and seethed, still clutching his blood-soaked leg. Sid stood behind, taking in the scene with a toothy grin on his face.

How hilarious. Look at these idiots! They just let that guy go! Clayton… I'm fine with him. He can leave if he wants. He's afraid… heh.

"Okay…" Sid spoke up, taking his hands out his pockets. The two boys then turned around to face him, and upon recognizing who it was, both cringed in fear. Sid laughed, then proceeded to check on his fingernails. He sighed, shaking his head. "Ya know… you guys aren't cut out for this game." He laughed again, nodding this time. He continued looking more interested in his fingernails.

Kael and Lee were offended by this ridiculous gesture. Kael was the first to speak up. "Us? Not cut out? We've got anything we could possibly want! I've got a gun! Uhm, I can shoot! I'm good! So's Lee! And, uh, he's got grenades! How's that, fucker? You bitch! You think you can take us? You think this is funny, bitch? Laugh it up, fuckface!" The more Kael spoke, the louder and harder Sid laughed. Kael was livid with this idiots' approach on him and his friend. He growled as Sid admired him.

"Yeah… you're not." Sid laughed, then reached into his back pocket. Out of it, he pulled a shiny blade, attached to a wooden handle. A… _hacksaw?_ He flopped it around, nodding. "I can take you out with this. Let's fight." Sid put on a serious face as he said this.

Kael stood up, both hands on the butt of his rifle, using it as a weapon, just as they had used it to injure Clayton. Lee, meanwhile, stood on the ground, speechless.

Kael was the first to initiate combat; he dove at Sid, rifle butt beside his waist, ready for a quick uppercut. He followed through on this attack, only to have it swiftly dodged by the dexterous Sid. Sid swung his hacksaw around, laughing.

"Yeah… you're not." He said this again, and Kael responded by yelling and diving once more. Kael, this time, raised the gun over his head and tried to do a downward-vertical smash. Sid dodged this again, however, and this time, as Kael, naturally, ran past, Sid slashed him in the back with his hacksaw. Kael yelped, stumbling forward, though not completely falling. He seethed as he clutched the small cut, which bled. The tear in his T-shirt was uncomfortable. He then proceeded to crouch in a battle stance, his gun held in front of him like a samurai sword. Sid, however, stood straight up, his saw held low in his right hand, his left hand held by his face.

This time, Sid was the first to initiate combat. He swung his saw in front of Kael's face, though he didn't connect. Kael watched as the silver blade flashed across his eyes, and he smirked as he realized Sid had missed. Suddenly, a fist came crashing into Kael's jaw, which was obviously Sid's. Kael fell crashing to the sand, his face quivering with pain. He rolled onto his back, and saw Sid. He looked unholy, his face and body almost hidden by the sun's forbidden path. Sid stood, then he smiled. Clutching his saw, he sort of straddled Kael, then he held the opposite end of the handle in his other hand. Kael assumed what he was going to do, and took out his rifle. Just as Sid was about to connect with his life-ending blow, Kael blocked the attack with his rifle. The two weapons crossed into an X, and the two ensued in a pushing war.

Sid laughed as he saw Kael struggling to hold up his weapon. The rifle was pressed close to Kael's throat, indicating a near-win for Sid. He'd choke him, simple as that.

Suddenly, Kael got a sudden burst of strength, pushing the two weapons back upward towards Sid about 10 centimeters. However, Sid was ready for this. He laughed at what he was about to do.

Kael was ready for any attack, though he wasn't ready for what Sid actually did. Sid slid the saw back and forth along the rifle. At first, Kael laughed at the useless maneuver. Then, upon seeing a scarlet liquid flow across the surface of his gun and hands, he realized what Sid had done. His fingers were gone. All of them. Aside from his thumbs, all of them were gone. Kael shrieked in horror, as his gun fell to the ground.

Sid stood up, laughing terribly as Kael and Lee, below him, shrieked at each other. Both of them were crippled horribly, one unable to grab and one unable to walk. They were pretty much trapped, unless Kael decided to…

In a panic, Kael stood up and sprinted away. For the first time so far in this confrontation, Sid was angry. "Fucker…" Sid panted as he began to pursue Kael, as Lee lay on the ground in the same position, hollering for Kael to return.

Kael panted as blood ran down his forearms, under his sleeves and further down his arms. His arms were soaked in scarlet as he cried for help. Sid, meanwhile, was gaining ground on Kael. The two ran across the beach, leaving Lee in the distance. They entered the suburban area which hosted the mansion where Kael and Lee stayed for a short time, as they transferred from the dirt path of the beach to the sidewalk of the residential area. Kael called out throughout the entire island;

"RUN! SID IS GONNA KILL ME! RUNNNNN!"

Sid, though he was quite angry with Kael, laughed at the stupid comment. He then sped up, now only about 5 meters behind Kael. He swiped with his saw, trying to make contact with Kael. Kael looked behind, and upon seeing Sid, tripped on a crack in the sidewalk.

Sid lunged onto Kael's back, then, getting up off of his back, turned him over. The two's eyes met, Sid's amused, chocolate eyes, with Kael's terrified, hazel ones. Kael, mustering up the rest of his courage, gathered a collection of spit in his mouth, oblivious to Sid, who was pretending to sharpen his saw, laughing. Kael then spat with all his might at Sid. Sid, knelt beside Kael, went livid. It was as if he hardly even recognized the fact that it was Kael's spit. He plunged the saw into Kael's throat. Sawing it back and forth like a saw normally would be used for, Kael screamed in agony. Sid's upper jaw quivered as he continued the horizontal motion. The saw's teeth ran across Kael's throat, severing the flesh which protected his esophagus. Kael screamed, and screamed, and screamed… Finally, Kael was unable to make any more sound. However, he could still feel all the pain.

Sid laughed as he watched Kael struggle… the idea of him being a tyrant was most amusing… Him over all. His dream come true. He continued the motion, until finally, Kael bled to death. Kael lay on the ground, his eye's slightly closed, his mouth, also, leaning slightly to the side. His skin was white, though everything on him and around him was red.

Sid hadn't even noticed, but Kael's jugular vein was coating his clothes and the sidewalk with blood. The blood sprayed like a fire hose, spraying Sid's shoulder with quite a decent amount of pressure. Sid nodded, then released the grip on his saw. He took up his saw from the severed throat. As he did, he saw that he had nearly decapitated Kael. He looked like a Pez Dispenser… though… horrible. His esophagus was showing, drowning in a pool of blood. It was similar to the wound which Mr. Rogers had. Sid stood up, then walked away to finish off his next victim; Lee. He re-traced his steps, then he flicked his saw around trying to get the bits of organ and excess blood off of it. He continued walking, then he got back to the beach. He saw Lee, who was leaning upward on the sand, possibly being hopeful that it was Kael who would return. Lee, upon seeing Sid, tried standing up, though it was no good with his wounded leg. He began to crawl through the blood sand, though he was making no progress. The sand would basically form around him, not letting him move at all. Lee shrieked as Sid stood behind him, then, he felt a dinosaur bite on his other leg. It continued hacking away, his leg crying with pain. EVERYTHING HURT for Lee. It was awful… He wished Sid weren't such a coward. The dinosaur bite then stopped, and he heard Sid walking away… Sid was going to leave him to die? Getting up into a kneeling position, he then screamed, "Coward! You fucking coward! You pussy! You goddamn, mother fucking, FUCKING FUCKING FUCKING PU…" Lee's life ended with a rifle blast to the back of his head. The hole in the back of his head was nearly clean, though the hole in the front of his head, where the bullet had exited, was surrounded by a crimson blood atop a canvas of stretched flesh. Since Lee had been kneeling as he died, his brains spilled out of the gaping hole in his head, falling to the sandy ground with a dull thud. The sand surrounding Lee was all sorts of red and pink, looking as though it had been a prepubescent girl's idea of how sand would be better.

Sid laughed, then he leant over Lee's corpse to inspect what weapons he had. As Sid walked closer, Lee's corpse fell to the ground, his head colliding with a splat with his juicy brain. Sid inspected Lee's hunting jacket, then his cargo pants. Finally, he found a belt of grenades. Sid nodded, grabbed the belt, and returned to the mansion from which he had come. As he entered the mansion, he retrieved his supply bag which was lying on a squashy armchair. He put the grenades in, hoisted his bag onto his shoulder and left.

* * *

Ike and Ryan walked through the trees, back up the hill. Ike was walking with the groups bags; his and Dante's supplies in one, Ryan's in the other. Ryan, meanwhile, held Dante onto his back in a piggy back position. The two hadn't moved far yet, though they had managed to reach C3. This was near where the school was, coated in trees. As the time reached 9:00 AM, they both became hungry for breakfast, only this time around, breakfast was definitely not a thing to worry about. Neither of them had spoken, for they were both equally concerned for Dante's safety. They couldn't think of anything to say… Not in a game as sinister as this, anyway. 

BOYS NUMBER 15 LEE NOBLE DEAD

20 KAEL TENNANT DEAD

45 STUDENTS REMAIN


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

9:00-10:00 AM Day One.

As Ike hoisted the two supply bags over his shoulder, he checked his map for their location. He examined a nearby building at the base of the hill him and Ryan stood atop; it was a lone farmhouse in a field. They saw a shadowy figured dash from the beach of C1, quickly scamper into the house and vanish. Ike sighed as he unfolded his paper map. Ryan, meanwhile, gently let Dante down against a tree. Dante's face remained the same as it had when he lost consciousness; it was drenched with sweat, his face in a sort of frown.

Ryan sighed as he examined the scenery cast about below him and Ike. The farm and it's general vicinity looked tranquil, though who knew what was going on inside the house. Sure, it wasn't as if there were a massive gunfight inside the house, but there could still be a fight. Ryan figured that there MUST'VE been someone inside that house, and with that other person dashing inside, it was almost guaranteed that there would be conflict. As Ryan watched, another shadowy silhouette slowly ambled from the beach to the house. It walked awkwardly as if it were carrying a heavy load. Or… perhaps, they had gone insane and were, just, well, out of it, Ryan thought. The figure crept slowly to the farmhouse, oblivious to Ike and Ryan's presence. Though they were several hundred meters away, this person could easily catch them. With two bags and an incapacitated, 145 pound load with them, they would be slowed down rather immensely.

As Ike examined his map, he deduced that the three of them must be at about D2. They had about 4 zones horizontally left to travel, which was still a long way away. He sat down, crossing his legs and knitting his brow. He, too, sighed as he contemplated how tough the journey ahead will be. They had to travel across a river, which, thankfully, had a bridge spanning it. However, Ike figured that traveling across a bridge would make them quite vulnerable. Once again, the factor of weight came into play and they would most likely be very slow if they were to be attacked. Also, people were likely to use a bridge for transportation. It wasn't as if they'd be the only ones using the bridge.

Ike ruffled his hair as he sat. His hands ran painfully through his auburn colored hair, which was dotted with knots. Personal hygiene was a trivial factor in a game as deadly as this, though it was persistent enough to be considered quite annoying. Both Ike and Ryan smelt bad, and they knew it. Normally, they'd laugh at this.

Ryan continued examining the scenery below. The hill descended at about a 45 degree angle, coated in emerald grass until it leveled off at its base, which was also blanketed with grass. The farmhouse stood like a sore thumb in the middle of the field, visible from all angles for long distances. Its field of custard-colored corn stood out remarkably against the green grass, and the ocean beyond completed the terrific ensemble of the earth's hues. Around the hill, which curved northward at an L to the west of Ike and Ryan was a suburban residential area. Along the ocean was a sandy coast, in most parts, though in others small cliffs lifted the grass against the tyrant waves of the ocean.

What sounded like a shrill, unreal bird call sounded throughout the valley.

Overall, though the game was basically a bloodbath, it took place on an island that contrasted the two moods oh-so-well. One, a twisting spiral of lies, deceit, and betrayal, and another, a terrific display of Mother Nature's prowess, a wonderful, beautiful display of peace and tranquility. Ryan marveled at the surreal contrast the two images provided.

"Okay, let's get moving." Ike stood up, shielding the sun from Ryan's eyes. The sun was now almost completely above them, followings its western path across the sky. Ryan then stood up, and, with Ike's help, hoisted Dante onto the back of his shoulders. Ryan then embraced him in a piggyback sort of carry, and Ike lifted up the two heavy supply bags. They now had to travel down a hill and to the peninsula that hosted the clinic. Little did they know what was going on inside the small farmhouse. At this time, a small shadow emerged from the building, still walking awkwardly. He walked as though he were carrying heavy objects… or as if he were insane.

* * *

Jennifer Penray, (Girl Number Three) and her two best friends, Hayley Campbell (Girl Number Four) and Whitney Sabourin (Girl Number Seven) walked through the streets of the residential area spanning zones F5 to F6. Jennifer led the group, as she always did. Her right-hand girl, Hayley Campbell, was oddly enough, following slightly behind her on her right side. The girl who only tagged along to be different from the rest of the class, Whitney Sabourin, followed several steps behind the both of them. She figured that hanging a unique crowd would further emphasize a sort of self-independence, which Whitney sorely lacked. However, joining a self-proclaimed "independent" social class was like following the latest fad. It seemed as though at Cochrane High the latest trend was to be independent and follow ones own values. This was of course, quite a contradiction considering the latest trend was to avoid the latest trends.

Jennifer had, as stealthily as she could in the strictly observed classroom, passed Hayley a note telling her to meet her at D6, an area that was dotted with residential as well as inner-city areas.

The island which played host to the city was big, though the city was miniscule. In fact, it couldn't exactly be a city. For an island only 2 kilometers in diameter, a city could only be so big. Therefore, it must've been a town. It was located in the southeastern part of the island, with a road dividing the two sections. To the north was of course, the suburban area, though that was about 1.5 kilometers, according to Jennifer's map. Nearby, there were more residential areas, some with smaller houses than the one that Jennifer and her cronies currently inhabited, which were located closely to the main part of the town, just a little to the north.

After Jennifer and Hayley met up, they had tried to find themselves a place to stay for a while, until they could manage to wait until things cooled down. Their idea of "cooled down," however, was when most of their classmates were dead. However, Whitney had tried her utmost to find her two friends, which, she pretty much relied on. Whitney was small, shy, and weak. On top of this, she was unintelligent and lacked common sense. However, Jennifer was intelligent and rather intimidating with her looks. Hayley was basically a clone of Jennifer, though she wasn't as good as Jennifer when it came to inner-city deals in Calgary…

Whitney had taken a gamble and had taken to the north, though, she quickly doubled back after realizing that the north was small. Of course, most others would realize that with a smaller area, it would be much easier to locate someone than in the vast south of the island. However, for once, Whitney's intellect, or lack thereof had paid off.

"How much further?" Whitney, who was about 10 meters behind the two of them whined as her heels throbbed with a dull pain. They had been walking since daybreak, trying to find a place to stay. Although they were in the midst of a vast residential area, which, being a residential area, was obviously host to dozens of houses. However, the three girls couldn't agree on where they would stay. This was mostly because of their paranoia. It was obvious that it would make no difference wherever the stayed, but they could not decide because of their fear for their other classmates.

"Not much…" Jennifer said as she sighed, holding her pistol which was her weapon. It was a Beretta 92, a standard model which, in the Coalition nation is the basic weapon of firearms. Everyone who owned a gun had wielded once in their lifetime a Beretta 92. It was a basic, strong, gun with a vertically tilting locking block system and an external trigger bar.

Hayley's weapon was a bottle of Potassium Cyanide. Though Hayley didn't know it, this mixture was highly deadly. Even the smallest of dosages resulted in a painful, agonizing death. She had left it in her supply bag after assuming it was useless. Whitney's weapon was extra bread. The rest of the class received two pieces of bread, though with this additional surplus Whitney received six.

Jennifer's beautiful complexion sagged as she sighed. Hayley, meanwhile, sighed to copy Jennifer.

While Jennifer was original and independent, Hayley did her best to be just like her. This didn't annoy Jennifer, though, because Jennifer was always looking for attention.

The three of them scanned the surrounding houses, looking for a place where they could hide. This was of useless, however, as all of the houses looked almost identical.

"They all look the same!" screeched Whitney. "Why can't we just hide in one now and get it done with? We've been at this for hours!"

"Shut up, bitch! You know you're just tagging along! I'm making the decisions here! Shut up!" Jennifer glared at Whitney, who cringed. Hayley, meanwhile, duplicated Jennifer's glare towards the petite Whitney and commented, "Yeah."

Jennifer relinquished the piercing stare and continued forward. Hayley, the mirror, did the same; and Whitney continued moments later, after deciding she was far enough away from Jennifer, afraid of her freaking out again.

The three continued walking for another 15 minutes, until finally Jennifer stopped in her tracks. Hayley quickly reacted and did the same. Whitney, meanwhile, staring at her feet, continued forward several paces, catching up to Hayley and Jennifer. As she continued staring at her feet, she bumped into Jennifer.

"Ow!" Jennifer stumbled forward.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Shut up!" Jennifer turned around and raised her fist at Whitney. Whitney cowered and stepped backwards until she was once again a safe distance from Jennifer. Jennifer scanned the surrounding area, which portrayed an almost identical setup of houses, the same as the many sets of residential complexes they had seen earlier.

"Let's hide out in there," Jennifer flicked hair out her eyes and pointed towards a small house which was marked 1896. It stood low to the ground, with a roof of red shingles and an exterior of a slight peach color. It's red door stood proudly upon the concrete steps leading up to it. The grass on the lawn was green, and the gate behind the house could be seen leading into the backyard.

"Looks good," commented Hayley. Jennifer smiled at her minion's compliment and beckoned the two girls to follow her into the house. The two girls followed Jennifer up to the front step. Jennifer opened the door, and slowly ambled into the house's confines. The sitting room was small and quaint, with a traditional sort of feel to it. Through the doorway in the sitting room, they could see a small kitchen, with a dull yellow from the outside sun illuminating it. Perpendicular to this doorway was another hallway.

Jennifer didn't bother to take off her shoes, though Whitney and Hayley both took theirs off. Jennifer walked into the kitchen, taking in it's modern appearance. A fridge stood just outside the doorway through which she had just entered; a small table was opposite it against the wall. Further along the wall was another doorway, which led into a small dining room. The floor was decorated with tiles that were a beige color with slight grey lines running across them in X's.

Whitney explored the hallway to the right. It had photos all along the two walls. In each of the mahogany frames were pictures of a young family. The mother and father, who looked as if they were in their 30's, stood embracing their two children who looked like they were still just toddlers. All of them had loving smiles on their faces, grateful for each other's just being there.

Whitney remembered her family… her father, who always looked out for her. While she was small and frail, he was large and strong. He had always cared for her, even after all the instances of trouble she had gotten in with the delinquents. Her mother had died when she was young. She had been involved in a car accident with Whitney's father; they had been T-boned at an intersection by a drunk driver. Her mother, who was in the passenger side, was hit directly and was killed almost instantly. Meanwhile, her father escaped with only a minor injury or two. However, it scarred him forever… That's why he always protected Whitney.

She also had an older brother, who was like Whitney in the sense that he was small. However, they had opposing personalities. Whitney was timid and shy, while her older brother, Tyler, was rambunctious and outgoing. He was always into fights, though he was strong. He was always fun to be around… he, too looked out for Whitney.

A tear rolled down Whitney's cheek as she remembered them… She may never see them again… Wait… who was she kidding? She WILL never see them again!

Whitney sobbed silently as another tear rolled down her cheek… She had given up hope.

"Hey, Whitney! You're tagging along, so give us your fucking bread!" Jennifer screeched from the kitchen. She laughed as she belittled poor Whitney.

Meanwhile, in the hallway, Whitney's state of mind had changed in a mere instant upon hearing Jennifer's voice… that bitch. How dare she…? No. She wasn't going to give up that easily… She'll honor her father for teaching her so well. She'll fight back. She'll win this game.

Wiping the tears off of her face, she smiled as she said, "Yeah, sure!"

* * *

Michael Lees, Boy Number Fourteen ran across the grass foothills of E2. According to his map, there was a farmhouse at the west end of a cornfield located in the same zone. Michael needed some water; he had pretty much inhaled all of the food he was given for the game. As soon as he started, he had traveled to the easternmost part of the island, a small bulge in I4. However, it had been announced as a forbidden zone, coming into effect at 9:00.

Therefore, as 9:00 drew near, Michael attempted to find a place to stay. He decided not to stay in the suburban or residential areas because of the over abundance of students that may be trying to hide there. Michael had decided to try and stay in the farmhouse; though it was basically in the middle of everything. However, Michael assumed that the rest of the students figured it was so blatantly obvious that staying there would result in conflict, so they most likely wouldn't have taken up residence. Michael figured that because of this, he'd be able to stay there without running into anyone.

His weapon was a 12-pack of batteries. Fucking useless! He discarded them long ago.

Michael slowed from a run to a walk as he became a little fatigued. Without water to wet his throat, he was parched and his breaths were erratic. Michael had run too much for such a small amount of water.

Michael scratched his scalp as he walked, and as he walked over the hill in front of him, the cornfield and farmhouse came into view. The farmhouse stood tall over the low cornfield, its massive bulk looking as though it were a massive battleship, sailing across a sea of golden waves. Now that the farmhouse was in view, Michael began to run again. His short hair shook slightly as the wind rippled his face, his loosely worn clothes billowing like parachutes. Michael grunted as a slight, dull pain emerged in his right calf.

After reaching the farmhouse, Michael wiped the sweat off his forehead. He squinted, trying to focus. The farmhouse was indeed looking normal; hopefully there was no one inside who had used the same mindset as Michael.

Michael walked forward, proceeding to climb the back steps into the house. The door creaked open as he opened it, and the inside of the farmhouse came into view. It was plain and grey on the interior, which was the opposite of the farmhouse's beautiful exterior. As Michael entered the house, the door creaked shut behind him. He could see that the backdoor entered a sort of hallway which was perpendicular to the door. An odd smell drifted into Michael's nostrils; it smelled vaguely like blood, though there were other, more predominant aromas floating about, such as the smell of corn, the ocean, and dust.

Michael took the route to the right and walked slowly down it. He was cautious. The smell of blood was an odd thing to be in a house… Someone may have been here. Or, on the other hand, are still here. He entered a sort of dining room, which was connected to an ivory-themed kitchen. The dining room table was coated with a thick layer of dust. Michael coughed as the thick smell became more potent. The kitchen was empty, the counters and tables left dusty and bare. Michael opened the fridge hoping to find some sort of water or food which wasn't perishable. When he opened the fridge, he saw a few kinds of food; a package of meat, a tray of sliced cheese and a carton of milk. As the disgusting smell of sour milk floated into the air, joining the brigade of the several other present aromas, Michael noticed the meat and cheese were layered with filthy green hairs. He then grunted and closed the fridge.

On his left was a metallic silver sink, which had a large, dank, yellow stain running from the top of the rim to the drain. Michael turned the tap on. The smell of blood destroyed the other smells, flaring into Michael's nostrils. The sudden reflex cause Michael to gag, and as he heard the sound of splashing liquid against a metallic surface, he turned around to see a slightly yellow mixture pouring out of the faucet. Michael grimaced, contemplating whether he should drink this foul solution. The smell of blood remained in Michael's nostrils as he thought.

Thirst overcame Michael's bearing of common sense, and he thrust his hands out in front of him to cup the dank liquid. Pressing his damp hands against his lips, the taste of water cascaded into his mouth. However, it tasted odd, definitely not like normal water. Michael didn't care. He repeatedly cupped water into his hands and slurped from the makeshift bowl, over and over until his throat was cool and wet. Michael smiled and licked his lips. The water didn't sit right, and Michael wondered why. Knowing farms, there'd probably be a well somewhere around. The well was a source of the farm's water. If there was anything wrong with the water supply, it'd probably be something in the well. He decided to check it out.

Michael exited the farmhouse the same way he came, and as he did his stomach squirmed unpleasantly. Something was wrong with that water… was that blood he had smelled?

Speeding up from a slow walk to a steady jog, Michael searched frantically for the well. "Come on? Where is it?" Michael squirmed as his stomach frothed. Michael then panicked, and burst into a sprint. Racing around the outside of the farmhouse, Michael still couldn't see the well. His stomach felt as though it were pushing through him, desperately trying to vomit up the strange mixture he had taken into his system.

Finally, he saw, about 15 meters away from the place he had exited (in his panic, Michael's ability to distinguish certain objects from others had been impaired), a small, brown roof overtop of a stony basin. This was the well. Michael sprinted towards it, wondering what was in the water.

"Was that blood I smelled? What had happened? Why was their blood? What was in that water!" As Michael drew near, that same pungent odor of blood crept into his nostrils. The sudden reflux to vomit nearly overpowered Michael, though he managed to swallowed it back. Michael then reached the well, and as he looked in, he saw something that he knew would scar his memory for the rest of his days.

A mangled corpse had been thrown into the well, it's blood smearing everything on it's way down to the base. It's face looked up at Michael, the eyes slashed and the lower half of the jaw, gone, leaving way to a thick, fleshy tongue hanging out of the scarlet chasm that was once this person's mouth. A mixture of vomit and blood coated the left side of his body, which was host to a missing arm and a slashed ear. The empty socked which hosted the arm still oozed a steady flow of blood, though the arm which had been severed off was nowhere to be found. The right side looked fairly unscathed compared to the abomination that was the rest of this person's figure, hosting only a few gashes. Michael assumed that this person wasn't actually at the bottom of the well; their bulk must have been to big to fit all the way down and they had gotten stuck. He could hear the sound of the steady drip-drip of his blood splashing against the base of the well.

Sick. Michael was sick. Turning around, he clutched his stomach, and vomit gushed out of his mouth. He clutched at his forehead, trying to erase the image of the destroyed person. The flow of vomit steadily ceased, though Michael's stomach still squirmed disgustingly, and the image was embedded in his cerebral archives, so predominant that it was almost as though Michael was still looking right at it.

His slashed face…

More vomit. Michael threw up into the well, though as he did, he saw the abomination again. Its eyes stared right at him, the pink slug that was his tongue hanging like a rose stalactite. The pink and yellow mixture of bile and the strange mixture splashed onto the mangled person.

"I DRANK HIS BLOOD!" The awful thought burst into Michael's mind so violently it was as if he had just been punched in the face. "I DRANK HIS FUCKING BLOOD!" Michael's mind screamed in terror as a hideous state of paranoia rushed in. He vomited again into the well, and as he stared at the eyes of the mangled person, he realized who it was. The class artist, Clayton Petitclerc, lay mangled in the well. Who did it? "IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER, I DRANK HIS BLOOD!" Again, Michael threw up. How disgusting! All I can fucking do is throw up! Doesn't matter, I drank his blood!

Finally, the tension in Michael's stomach ceased, though Michael was still struck with raw terror. Thoughts ran through his mind… what was he going to do? Who did this?

All Michael could think of was Clayton… how… horrible. Where the fuck is his other arm? The smell of blood… how did it get in the house? Through the water system… I don't want to think about it.

Michael lost consciousness, and lay on the ground, soaked in his own vomit.

Little did he know, the killer was none other than our own foul friend himself, Sid Algar.

Sid's plan of action was to eliminate everyone he saw; so far he had fulfilled his plan. Kael, Lee, Clayton, dead. Even though he had initially let Clayton go, he decided that even the most timid and weak of players could be dangerous. After Clayton left, he assumed he had taken up fort in the farmhouse. After leaving the mansion, he snuck around along the road to the farmhouse as opposed to the beach where he killed Lee. After entering the farmhouse, he found Clayton cradling his broken arm on a couch. He had knocked him unconscious with a quick jab to the back of the head with the butt of his new rifle (previously Kael's). He then proceeded to take as much water as he could from the tap, filling up one of his empty bottles. He then picked Clayton up, took him outside, and over the well, he had mangled his body to death. Clayton had awoken after the first cut, and he had screamed in terror as he saw the face of Killer Sid. Sid cut off his left ear and arm, and then he proceeded to slash out Clayton's eyes with his hacksaw. Clayton then died after this. Sid then decided for an intimidation factor to carve out Clayton's jaw. He had used his hacksaw for all of this. After he was done with Clayton, he tossed his body into the well, so no one would be able to use its water, and as he looked around, he saw Clayton's arm on the ground. Lee had broken this same arm. Its elbow extended out at an odd angle, looking almost backwards.

Sid had taken this arm into the farmhouse. He knew that if he'd be able to play this game best, he'd have to shut everyone else down first. He took the arm and searched for the ventilation system in the house. He found it easily, a shaft in the roof of the dining room. Using a chair, he reached the shaft, opened it, and put Clayton's arm in the shaft. The whole farmhouse reeked of blood. Sid smiled to himself and left, struggling with the heavy weight of his arsenal of weapons.

This was how he would play in Battle Royale. Sid was a killer. To him, the rest of the class was just the killed.

* * *

Ike and Ryan were now at the west side of the bridge, facing east. The peninsula where the clinic was only three zone lengths away, and so far the two had encountered nobody else. However, that odd bird call they had heard earlier had some eerie tone about it…

"Not much further," Ike shuffled his hair as Ryan adjusted his glasses, the unconscious Dante on his back.

"Thank god," Ryan said, knitting his brows. "It hurts to carry this guy around, man." Ike laughed, and for once in the game, things were looking up. Aside from Dante being unconscious, they were about to finally get him to help and they were safe. They hadn't encountered anyone yet. However, Ryan and Ike were always looking for allies. In finding no one, no students at all, this of course also meant that they hadn't found any allies. The two were constantly wondering where their friends were… their enemies, too.

"Where do you think some of the guys are?" Ike asked as the two started walking across the bridge.

"I would think Cedric and Justin would try to find each other… Zachary's probably following Shane around everywhere, and, yeah. I would think pretty much everyone in this game is looking for someone to meet up with. It's like us; it's safer in groups than it is alone."

This bit of battle strategy talk from Ryan surprised Ike.

"Gee, I didn't think you were really that into this game… Are you looking for Alex?" The word Alex triggered something in Ryan's brain. Ryan quickly turned around, apprehensively eyeing Ike.

"Yes. I have to find her. I've got to protect her. I know she can't survive out here alone… neither can I."

The two continued walking until they reached G2, just two zones away from the clinic. Ike uncomfortably lifted the two supply bags further up on his shoulder, grimacing with the weight of the oddly-shaped objects digging into his shoulder. They only had a little further to go… then Dante would be OK.

Ruby Fetega, Girl Number Seventeen, finally reached the clinic. After nearly two hours of walking from the grave of Stephanie Mitchell, she had finally made it. She, too, hadn't encountered a soul on her journey, only the thick pollution of grief which filled the air of the island. Ruby, too, had been stricken with this grief, and she felt fear for her other students.

"What's happening to them?"

"Where are they?"

"What are they doing?"

She was always curious… She wasn't sure who she'd think would be a killer or not. She knew she'd never kill… it didn't even seem to be an option. It was redundant… Yeah, redundant. I'm not sinister. I'd never do anything like that.

The inside of the clinic was the dreary grey of a doctors office. Ruby could just imagine a child sitting in the waiting room, terrified of the examination she was about to receive. The impatient mother, meanwhile, sat beside her, flipping through pages of a tabloid magazine. At the desk, a young lady tapped away at a computer, receiving phone calls and sorting files. In came a doctor who was older, in his 40's it seemed. He carried a thin document, and a stethoscope was wrapped around his shoulders. He then summoned the young girl to enter his office. His voice was foggy and distant; as he spoke, the little girl stood up, anxious to get her appointment over with. She cautiously approached the doctor, and as she did, the mother watched her with loving eyes. The receptionist smiled warmly as the doctor handed her the file he was carrying, then the doctor disappeared down the hallway into a small room.

Suddenly, Ruby was returned to reality. This wasn't a peaceful clinic in an ordinary town… this was a… an abandoned doctor's office in an island of fear and hatred.

Ruby sat into one of the waiting room chairs, silently sobbing… When would she find someone? She was lonely. She knew she couldn't play this game alone… Where was Erin and Vanessa? Or… maybe Dante and Ike. She needed someone…

Meanwhile, the shadow of darkness crept along the northern beaches of the island, soaked in a victims blood, carrying an arsenal which would ultimately end the fire of humanity. His face was coated in ethereal hatred and fear, the bane of his victims being put into his palm.

There was also the shambling brigade of hopeless heroes, shattered and broken, but still managing to stay strong and resilient. They carried the sick hero, who had fallen ill from an injury. Light radiated from the three of them; not a light of heroes, but a light of a new hope.

BOY NUMBER 4, CLAYTON PETITCLERC DEAD.

44 STUDENTS REMAINING


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

10:00-11:00 AM

Sigh…

Ike Ferdez, Boy Number Sixteen, sighed as he slowly ambled up a dusty dirt road, carrying a heavy load of his own supplies, as well as two others.

The two owners of these other sets of supplies were the unconscious Dante Zolianis, who was struck with an infection from a bullet wound, and the valiant Ryan Dick, who was helping Ike transport his friend to an abandoned clinic on the island's northeast peninsula, located in zone H1.

"No worries, Ike," Ryan said. "We're almost there…" Ryan grunted as he shoved Dante upward further on his back, Dante lying on his back in a sort of piggyback embrace. Ryan clasped Dante's two hands together in front of his chest with one of his own, while the other one was bracing Dante's left leg, so it would be easier to hoist Dante up.

"Say… Ryan?" Ike asked cautiously. "What're you doing… as soon as Dante's in there?"Ryan laughed and shook his naked head.

"I don't know… I wanted to find Alex, though I'm not sure if that's going to be possible. I mean, this island is huge! She could be anywhere. And, on top of that, I can only cover so many areas at a time… If she's on the move, she could just…"

"Avoid you?"

"No! She might just retrace her steps or something… Go where I've already gone past…" As Ryan said this, he realized the chances of seeing his best friends face were slim.

"I wouldn't dwell on it if I were you," commented Ike. "We could help you after Dante's recovered, if you want." He looked hopefully onward as Ryan considered the idea.

"I'm not so sure… I guess it does have its ups and downs… For one, we're in a group, so we're less likely to be attacked… I don't know, Ike. There's gonna be one crazy bastard out there willing to take us all on. I mean, what if someone has a fucking bazooka out there?" Ryan laughed at the absurdity. "Well… it's a possibility. It's a risk. I'm not sure if it's in your guys' best interest. I think I'll take this one alone."

"You sure?"

"Yeah… yes." Ryan sighed.

In his head, Ike cursed. That sure sucked. Ike and Dante weren't exactly the strongest of guys, though Ike was somewhat intelligent. Although Ryan had a weapon which, to him, was useless, he was still somewhat strong and could definitely pull through in a melee fight. And hey, who knows, maybe that shuriken could somehow prove useful.

"We're here," Ike said as the clinic stood before the three of them.

The clinic was a miniscule building; it was obviously part of a small rural community, not exactly requiring a vast amount of size and space. The ocean behind and to the sides flailed randomly about, it's waves smashing against the auburn rocks along the edges of the small landform. Ike examined the façade of the clinic; as he did this, he noticed something that made his heart jump into his throat.

Footsteps.

Ryan must have noticed them too, for he said nothing. Prints that were exaggerated so drastically so as to be almost comical, stretching right across the small mat at the base of the clinic's door.

"Well… there's no turning back now," Ryan said as he reached into one of the supply bags Ike carried, in turn pulling out two disassembled pieces of a spear, which belonged to Dante. He laid Dante gently down on the dirt, and as he clicked the two pieces of the spear together, he beckoned for Ike to take out weapons of his own. Ike, too, reached into two separate bags and pulled out both his and Ryan's weapons; a shuriken and pair of scissors.

"All blades," Ike thought. "What an uncanny coincidence."

Ike put down the three bags, then, slowly following Ryan bundled their straps together in one hand and dragged to the front of the clinic underneath a window.

Ryan crept stealthily up to the same window, lightly kicking Ike's bags aside. Ike felt embarrassed. He didn't think Ryan would be planning on using the same window. He hung his head and ruffled his hair.

The window was shut and looked old. Ryan slowly pushed his fingertips against the surface of the pane of glass' base and tried pushing upward. He pushed delicately, for if it were to suddenly come loose, he would bash it against the top of the indent and make a huge noise, which would obviously alert the resident inside the clinic of their presence. The window suddenly came ajar, lifting up a few inches. Ryan slowly crept his fingers under, and slowly pulled upward. The window moved easily. Fastening the hold on the window, it was held in the same spot, making a hole just big enough for the two boys to climb through. Ryan beckoned for the smaller Ike to go first. Ike slowly crawled through, entering the clinics' confines.

The clinic sported a dreary look of grey, with a severe lack of color, which was quite a contrast to the multicolor scenery outside. He had entered the end of a short hallway; doors were located on either side of him. They were painted a bold brown, while the ceiling was like the surface of a chessboard. The walls and ceiling were of a sickening, pale grey. Just being inside gave him a feeling of being trapped, being bared down upon by some intimidating, otherworldly power which prohibited his exit. Being in this prison gave him a feeling of having no other choice but to abide by the rules of the intimidating force; no way out, so to speak.

Ike moved forward to allow Ryan in. Ryan, too, took in the scene with an odd expression on his face. He then beckoned Ike to check under the doors for some sort of sign as to where this person could be. Ike was reluctant, though Ryan's persistency forced Ike to comply. Ike then gently crouched down onto his knees. He bent over facing the left door, and pressed his ear against the ground. Looking under the doorway, he saw nothing but a few desk posts and the base of one of those doctors' chairs. He stood up, then shook his head.

Ryan, unconvinced, stalked up to the door, slowly turning the handle. Pushing it open, he too, saw that there was nothing inside. Posters of quitting smoking and taking proper care of personal hygiene littered the walls. Ryan sighed, then, realizing the massive amount of noise he was making, abruptly cut off his exhalation and beckoned Ike to search under the next door. Ike spread his arms out and frowned, making an expression which stated something like "What the fuck, dude? Why don't you do it?" Ryan frowned and beckoned again, threateningly. Ike rolled his eyes and assumed the same position he had earlier, looking under the door. The dusty floor brushed up against his face, getting into his hair. Once again, Ike saw nothing under the door. He stood up, and in turn, Ryan opened the door, spear in hand, and once again, another, nearly identical, room decorated with health posters came into view.

Ryan then motioned for Ike to follow him, and the two then walked out of the hallway and into what was apparently a sitting room. At this point, Ryan motioned for the two of them to split up. He nodded towards the right branch of the hallway for Ike to search that part, while he pointed at himself and nodded to the left, indicating that he would search this portion of the clinic. Ike agreed and disappeared behind the corner.

Ryan, once again, crept slowly, afraid of making any sound. The sitting room had chairs lining across the far wall, and the door's entrance was right beside Ryan. To his left was the receptionist's desk, and at the left side of the room was what appeared to be a few bathrooms. Ryan checked behind the desk, which, along the surface of the wall, had a vast amount of books and various cabinets containing what must be prescription pills. He didn't bother opening any of the cabinets, thinking "Who the hell would hide in a _cabinet_?"

He then sped up his pace into a normal walk and proceeded to check the bathrooms. Both were small, and were for only one person. They were also empty. Ryan sighed and headed back into the waiting room. He sat in one of the various chairs, waiting for Ike or some sort of commotion.

Ike came back shortly after Ryan entered the room, looking confused. "Nobody," was all he said.

"Well," Ryan replied. "You know what that means." Ike grimaced, trying to figure out what Ryan meant by saying, "You know what that means." Ryan laughed and said, "Let's go get Dante."

Several minutes later, the two had managed to bring Dante and the supplies into the clinic. Now that they had completed their journey, they weren't sure where to start. The two sat, staring at the unconscious, though still breathing Dante.

"Uhm… so…" Ike began. Ryan looked over at him amused. "Where should we start?" Ike hoped Ryan would know what to do.

"I don't know either," Ryan replied mockingly. Ike smirked and the two continued staring at Dante.

"Look at him," Ike said. Ryan turned to face Ike. "He looks so…"

"Helpless?" Ryan looked down at Dante. His brown hair looked like a mass of sleeping rodents, sprawled crazily about. The rest of his body heaved slowly with his slow breaths.

"Heheh… I wonder what he's thinking about right now?" Ike laughed as he stared at his best friend, laying face up on the ground, his eyes closed and his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Ruby." Ryan replied. Ike looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah… he's always liked her."

* * *

Ruby Fetega, Girl Number Seventeen, was crammed up inside of a small cabinet behind the receptionists' desk. She knew that Ryan and Ike were the ones who had come into the clinic, and that they had Dante Zolianis with him. She had heard everything the two of them had said. 

She always had felt like Dante acted weird toward her, but she figured it was just his personality. Now that she knew Dante liked her, she didn't know what to do.

"I wonder where she is?" Ryan said.

"Who knows," Ike replied. "Shame, considering we're looking for allies. I would at least hope to run into someone we could be friends with."

Ruby pressed her ear against the crack trying to listen better.

"Yeah…" Ryan said. "I don't think we've even run into anyone?"

"Nope."

"That's what I thought… that's odd."

"Yeah," Ike replied. "For 48 people, you'd think we would've met someone when we left the school. Well… Sam and Janet were outside the school when Dante and I met. What did you do?"

"I… basically just booked. I didn't exactly think twice."

The two boys sat in idle contemplation, once again returning to watching the unconscious Dante's chest heave slightly with his breathing.

Ruby, too, sat in the cupboard contemplating what was going on around her. Okay, for one, it seems as though Ryan and Ike are not killers… They're looking for allies. Should I come out?

Ruby was eccentric with people she was acquainted with, though, deep down inside, she was very timid. She had grown up with her mother in a small home after her father had been killed in an accident on the oil rig he worked on. As an only child with a single parent, she lacked a sense of family and cohesion that most of the other students would recognize. She was terrified of this game, but when she thought about how she wasn't the only one terrified, she was comforted.

Ruby quietly adjusted herself so she could peek out of the crack in the cupboard. However, all she could see was the inside of the receptionist's desk she was behind. Its small shelves were empty, and the drawers on its surface were painted with a bold mahogany, though now they were covered in a thick layer of dust, making them look velvety.

"We should really do something about Dante," Ryan yawned as he spoke.

Ryan was strong in body and spirit, though he was mentally lacking. He definitely excelled in most of the class's sports, though when it came to academics, Ryan had one of the lowest grades in the class. He was born with a learning disability, which was one of the sole reasons he had been held back so much. Though the school applied to put Ryan into a resource class, Ryan's parents declined the offer, stating that their child could do better in the regular class. However, Ryan's low grades persisted.

"Yeah, but what? I know nothing of medical… shit. Seriously." Ike knit his brow as he spoke. "I guess I could check in, uhm, that place. There are pills and shit there, right?"

Ryan nodded absent-mindedly as Ike stood up to retrieve the medical supplies from the storage room on the other side of the building. So, Dante has an infection, right? Easy. He just needed to find something… Ike stepped into the storage room, admiring the vast amounts of medicine held within. There were several shelves, each containing different types of medicines for different kind of sicknesses.

Ike had no clue where he would find disinfectants… Maybe under the disinfectants shelf? Well, aside from the obvious. Ike scanned the labels of the shelves, searching for something that would be similar to disinfectants. There it was. The shelf on the far left, containing only a few items.

Ike then realized that something was strange about this clinic. Why is there still medicine in here…? The man in the class had said people had time to pack their things when they were evacuated, didn't he? These people didn't get taken with out time, did they? Ike was marveled by his own ignorance. He knew nothing about the fucking government! What if they were taken by force? You'd think something as important as pharmaceutical supplies would be taken first, right? Why would it still all be here?

The more Ike thought, the more he hated himself thinking about it. Yeah, he was ignorant. He really did know nothing. He coughed and ran his hands across his cheeks, staring at the contents of the disinfectant shelf. Not knowing anything about disinfectants, he grabbed the biggest container there was, assuming that the more he would take, the more he could use to help Dante.

Quickly rushing over to the sitting room, he clutched the container tightly in his hands. He entered the room to see it the exact same as he left it; Dante lying face up on the floor, Ryan drifting off to sleep in one of the sitting room chairs.

Ike kneeled beside Dante, quickly peeling off the cap of the mysterious substance. Inside was a thick, oily, transparent liquid. Ike suddenly realized what the substance was; he had remembered Mr. Rogers teaching them about different basic substances. This was Hydrogen Peroxide, or, H2O2, which is a powerful oxidizer.

He grasped Dante's red T-shirt, trying to pull it off of his head. The sweat from Dante's body made it sticky and it came off rather awkwardly. Turning Dante over, Ike saw the wound, which was still as smelly and purple as ever. A fleshy, scarlet crater in his back marked the initial wound, and as Ike looked he could still see the bullet embedded in his skin.

"You should be careful," Ryan said. "We don't know how to properly do this stuff."

"I don't care. It's worth a shot, right? What else are we gonna do?" Ike grimaced as he inhaled the foul stench of Dante's wound.

Meanwhile, Ruby, too, covered her nostrils from the foul odor that Dante emitted. Should she come out? What if Ike and Ryan were to accept her? Or… what if they were to attack? Ruby knew a thing or two about medication; her mother worked at a pharmacy in Cochrane. Ruby's heart sank as she thought of her mother, all alone at home, anxiously awaiting Ruby's return. But the thought of her mother… what had happened to her? Had the parents really been told after? Or were they just hung out to dry? The thought of Ruby's mother kicking and screaming for her daughter brought small translucent beads of tears rolling down her cheeks.

No. She wasn't going to watch as a life was taken. Her mother was waiting for her… waiting for her life. How could she watch as somebody else's life would be lost? Dante would have a family, too. A family that's waiting for him back in Cochrane. Ruby quietly clasped her hands to her chest, then she slowly pushed the cupboard door open.

The hinge on the cupboard door clicked as it opened. To Ryan, this sound was similar to someone firing a cannon next to his ear. The prior, eerie, haunting silence was replaced by a deafening, terrifying silence. _Someone else is here!_

Ike, too, heard the noise, and he stood up, alert, spinning in all directions to pinpoint the location of the click. Silence prevailed, and nothing happened.

"You don't think--" Ike quickly interrupted Ryan, still trying to listen for more noises. Ryan watched Ike slowly as Ike looked around.

Suddenly, the sound of shuffling footsteps and ruffling clothes came from behind the receptionist's desk. The hair on the back of Ike's neck stood up as he listened. A spine-tingling chill ran down Ike's entire body as he stood watching the receptionist's desk, as though it were the true monster. Ryan, meanwhile, swallowed nervously, watching the desk.

A figure then stood up behind the desk, and as it did, Ryan and Ike both clutched their weapons, as though they were guns, though they were all melee weapons. Though, upon recognizing who it was, they relinquished the grip on their weapons.

"Ruby!"

Ruby Fetega stood behind the receptionist's desk, her hockey stick now in her hands. She had hidden it along one of the desk's upper shelves, underneath it's surface.

"I—what? Huh? How did you get here?" Ike stuttered as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. How the fuck did she get in here?

"Uhm… I was hiding in the cupboard all along." She laughed as she looked at the two boys' embarrassment.

"Yeah… I guess, I, uhm, missed that. Sorry, Ike." Ryan blushed as he saw Ike's disappointment. Realizing this wasn't the time to point fingers, Ike quickly laughed it off and said,

"No worries. You're not evil, huh, Ruby?"

"No… I haven't met anyone, either." Ruby replied.

"What? So you heard everything we said?" Ike said with a tone of disbelief. "So, that means… uh-oh."

"I wouldn't dwell on it…" Ruby said. "Dante always acted weird around me. I had actually assumed that was the case."

"Oh, well in that case, good then! Cool!" Ike spoke excitedly. "Do you know of how we can help out Dante?"

Ruby shrugged, then looked at Dante. "Eww…." The wound glared ever so gruesomely at the three of them, Dante's face still with an expression of indifference. "Wait… Did you guys take the bullet out yet?"

"Haha… no." Ryan shrugged.

"Well, you'll have to do that," Ruby said. "We need something to like, pry it out."

The three of them stood in silence.

"Well?" Ruby said with an expression of amusement on her face. "You guys must have something."

"Wait! Yeah, I've got scissors. We, can, uhm, dig in there… ugh." Ike cringed as he imagined the thought of having to dig through Dante's flesh looking for the bullet.

"It's what we'll have to do. Here, give me them." Ike handed Ruby the scissors, ruffling his hair. 'Still knotty.'

Ruby bent over Dante's limp body, Ike and Ryan doing the same, trying to watch.

"Here… This is going to be gross. Can you see it?" Ike looked in and examined the violet abomination that was Dante's wound. It was, to be blunt, quite disgusting, or so Ike thought. Ike always had a weak stomach…

"Uf… there it is." Ike gagged as he spotted the lone ebony slug. It was quite hidden in the purple canvas, camouflaging almost perfectly.

"Okay. Like I said, this'll be gross." Ruby laughed. "Good thing Dante's asleep…"

Ike turned away. Though… it wasn't because of his weak stomach. For some reason, he couldn't watch Dante be hurt like that by those scissors. Just the thought of it yanked at his heartstrings. He is his best friend, after all, and he just looks so helpless…

For someone with such a blunt, pompous personality, Ike was actually quite sensitive. He couldn't stand seeing others hurt; he had some sort of compassion for the human race. Yet, he had always taken pleasure in being sarcastic and arrogant. Besides, the bond he had formed with Dante withstood almost everything… Seeing him hurt was as bad as seeing his family hurt.

"Okay. Here goes." Ruby grimaced as she slowly jabbed the scissors into the hole where the bullet was. Trying to puncture as little of Dante's flesh as possible, she dug carefully and slowly. Both of the blades of the scissors were now stabbing opposing sides of Dante's flesh surrounding the bullet. Small droplets of scarlet oozed out of the perforations made in the skin. Squeezing the handles together, Ruby tried to grab the bullet with the two blades. The quiet sound of Dante's wound parting made for a disgusting environment… Ryan almost thought they were in some sort of zombie movie… Dreary, dull, dark building, disgusting, purple wound, (almost like a zombie bite, yeah!) and fear for one's own life. Resisting the urge to laugh, Ryan coughed loudly trying not to give Ruby and Ike the impression that he found the makeshift surgery entertaining.

Ike, meanwhile, stood facing the window. The sound of Dante's skin opening against the two blades made his stomach churn, and worse yet, the thought of Dante being torn up so… carelessly… made him angry. How could he be angry? Ruby was doing her best!

"Stop it."

"What?"

"I SAID STOP IT!"

"But, I'm almost done! Th- the bullet! Look! Seriously, I-"

"FUCK! SHUT UP! STOP IT!"

Ike clenched his fists as he felt tears rolling down his cheeks. Ryan, meanwhile, grabbed Ruby's free hand, as though he were going to protect her from some outburst from Ike.

Anger overpowered Ike. Losing control, he swung his fist into the glass window as hard as he could. The window instantly gave way, shards of glass flying into and out of the clinic. Ike's hand was serrated as it flew through the crystalloid shower. Blood sprayed and flew through the air, gushing out of Ike's hand. Ruby burst into tears and buried her face in Ryan's shirt, as he embraced her trying to comfort her.

Ike didn't stop there. He ran over to Dante's body, clasping his hands upon the scissors. With all his might, he pulled the scissors out. The sound of flesh being cut sounded throughout the room, as a small, momentary geyser of blood erupted from the scissors' cuts. Throwing the scissors with all his might, Ike threw them into the receptionist's desk. The two twin blades stuck into the mahogany surface, the handles sticking out. In all his rage, Ike could not feel how hard he was squeezing his fingernails into his palms. Small parts of blood oozed down his fingers as he kicked down the nearby bathroom doors.

Ruby, meanwhile, continued to cry, as Ryan glared at the out-of-control Ike.

Using up the last of his energy cramming his fist into a wall, Ike leant up against it, fell to his knees and began to sob uncontrollably. Without warning, he let out a furious, anguished scream. His head up against the wall, he sobbed, clawing slowly and silently at the pale walls. The blood from his wounds coated his hands as he left trails of his crimson blood on the wall. Had the scene not been so emotional, it would've looked quite morbid.

Ryan sighed as he watched hapless Ike. Ruby, too, watched Ike as she wiped away her tears. Dante still lay on the ground, his wound releasing its foul odor and looking worse than ever.

So many thoughts ran through Ike's head that it made him feel sick. He now felt regret… Why did he do that? How could he lose control so easily? It was obvious he hurt Ruby's feelings, yet she was trying so hard. That's not the Ike he thought himself of as. Raising his head from its resting point on the wall, he looked over at Ruby and Ryan through his glossy, tear-stained eyes and his matted jet-black hair. He swallowed, wondering what Ryan and Ruby were now thinking of him as. The two of them just stared at him, until finally Ruby got up from her position, walked over to him, and embraced him in a hug.

Ike just sat still, his head resting on Ruby's shoulder. Ryan continued to stare at Ike, until, he too, stood up and walked over to his emotional comrade. He crouched down to his knees at Ike's side and rested his hand on his shoulder. Ike simply looked forward, still sobbing as crystallite tears streamed down his face.

Ruby, releasing her hug, stared into Ike's eyes.

"Hey." Ike looked up at her, his wet eyes in a sort of doe-eyed expression. "Dante's okay, alright? I got the bullet out. You saw it, didn't you? It was in the scissors." Ike looked around, trying to find the scissors which he had previously thrown at the wall in his rage. He saw them sticking out of the wooden surface of the desk, then nodded as he stared at them.

"We'll pour that disinfectant on and we'll let him rest, okay?" Ruby said as she let Ike's head rest in her hands. She wiped the tears off of his face with her thumbs, and then hugged him once more. Ryan watched the whole scene, feeling compassion for Ike. He had an idea of what he was going through… Not being able to talk to your best friend, fearing for your life… Ryan's heart sank at the thought of Alex being alone on the island.

Minutes later, the three of them prepared to pour the disinfectant on Dante. Now that the bullet was out, it was safe for them to pour it. Ruby grasped the container of H2O2, lifting up to eye level, examining its contents.

"Yep." Ruby said as she held it up. "It'll hurt, that's for sure. Haha… good thing he's asleep. Hey, Ike, are you sure you want to see this?"

Ike had agreed to overcome his fear of watching his friends get hurt, so now he was going to watch Ruby pour on the disinfectant.

"Yes. Go for it." Ike said as he stared at Dante laying face down.

"Okay," Ruby said. "One thing's for sure; it's very good he's asleep. If he were awake, he'd be in for a world of pain. This stuff is very acidic, but it's the best we've got, right? Kay, so, it'll look like something's wrong, but that's fine, that means its working. Since its so acidic, it'll basically burn away all of the bacteria in the wound. You sure you ready, Ike?"

"Yeah… haha. I didn't know you were so knowledgeable about this stuff."

"My mom's a nurse, and she teaches me all this stuff. She wants me to know it, in case, you know. This happens."

"Okay… Go for it. I'm ready."

"Alright."

Ruby took the container and raised it overtop of Dante's wound. Slowly, she tilted the container over until the viscous substance oozed out and onto the surface of Dante's skin. A slight hissing sound could be heard as the disinfectant burnt most of Dante's flesh. His skin began to turn white and small bubbles frothed in places.

"What the…?" Ryan said admiringly.

"Don't worry. That mean's it's working. Like I said, it's lucky he's asleep. It'd be really painful if he weren't."

The bubbles slowly ceased frothing and slowly returned to the surface of the skin. The hissing could still be heard as Dante lay on his back.

"Okay. Now, the wound'll be clean, so let's take him somewhere and put his head up." Ryan and Ike lifted Dante's body into one of the patient's rooms, and rested his head on one of the long, laid back chairs. His head rested easily along the comfortable surface.

Ruby then walked in with a warm towel, which she then placed upon Dante's forehead. Slowly rubbing it and matting it onto his skin, she smiled as she looked down upon him.

"Haha… he's such a goof." Ike, too laughed.

"Yeah, he is."

The three of them then returned to the sitting room, talking about each other's travels in the game. Ruby revealed to Ike and Ryan how she, too, had run into no one, though she did tell them how she had run into the corpse of Stephanie Mitchell. Ryan told Ruby about his plan of action, how he was going to leave them to find Alex as soon as Dante's safety and good health was assured. They also spoke of their classmates, about who they think they will have to look out for and who they think they could join forces with.

The whole time, though, everything seemed empty. It was a vague, suspicious feeling that Ike had felt throughout the whole conversation. He realized that without Dante, he had no cohesion holding himself together. That was, until today. Today, he realized that there were other friends looking out for him. That there were other people whom he could trust, care for. Knowing this made Ike far more comfortable, though he still could not wait for the soon-to-be return of his best friend.

44 STUDENTS REMAIN


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten.

11:00 AM- 12:00 PM

Ike Ferdez, Boy Number Sixteen, sat in the receptionist room of the small island's solitary clinic, with two fellow students accompanying him; Ryan Dick, Boy Number Eight, and Ruby Fetega, Girl Number Sixteen.

Taking their ailing, unconscious friend Dante to the clinic because of an infectious bullet wound, they had decided to take up shelter in the clinic until Dante was revived and until they could revise some sort of plan. The game was dangerous. They had all decided that. It's not as if they can pull something out of thin air and expect to survive when gun toting crazy people like Sid Algar are on the loose.

That's what Ruby thought anyway… She knew Sid was a killer, she knew it. He had his own personal little outburst in the class back when they were first introduced to the game. He hates everyone. It's no mystery. _Sid is a fucking psycho!_ It's a matter of time till he snaps and goes on a massive killing spree.

"Who do you think is done for?" Ike spoke slowly and cautiously as the words rolled off of his tongue. "Like… really? I'm thinking there's a fair number who've already bitten the dust… Who do you guys think have died by now?"

"Hah… No offense, Ike, but I can't believe you can talk about something like that in such a casual tone…" Ryan scoffed as he spoke. "Are you really that above everyone else that you can speak of them like that?"

Ike recoiled as Ryan's words hit his ears. "What?" Ryan frowned and turned his head towards Ike, his arms folded across his body. "That's bullshit! Who the fu--? What? No way would I think that! I didn—fuck. Come on, Ryan. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Fuck you, Ike. Set aside your ego for one fucking second, okay?"

"That's such BULLSHIT! Come on, I've been trying to help Dante for as long as this game began! I've—I—FUCK! I don't exactly have any other valid examples, though I can assure you, I'm not thinking of anything really right now but trying to just… get out of here, or something. I'm not putting myself above anyone. We need to cooperate if we want to pull something off, right? We can't fight alone. We can't run alone. We can't… we can't do anything alone!"

"…" Ryan said nothing as he sighed, relinquishing his furious staring at Ike to admire the quaintness of the clinic floor.

Ike, too, said nothing as the two thought over their seemingly pointless argument. Both knew that during a time like this, an argument was definitely not something to have. If things were to get out of hand, and they were to separate, things would definitely take a turn for the worse.

Ruby, meanwhile, sat across the room from the two of them, her eyes darting from one to the other. How could they be so stupid? This isn't fucking school… Gah… I understand they're both waiting for Dante to wake up, but this isn't the time for it… There are things we need to be thinking of now, not arguments about what one person thinks of another.

The three of them sat in quiet contemplation, each of them staring at the floor, breathing slightly, as the wind rolled past the plain clinic windows and the grass outside rippled like the waves of a stone being thrown into the water.

* * *

Sounds of shouting filled the air. Grunts and bodies shuffling across each other, banging into walls and falling on the floor could also be heard, mainly due to the fact that a fisticuff was occurring in the main hall of the small suburban home. A little boy, only 3 years old, sat idly staring through the open doorway into the kitchen, relenting the repetitive back and forth motion of the toy truck he was playing with on the carpet of the living room. 

"Sid!" A mature female voice screamed from the main hall, struggling to speak as though she were being choked. The little boy looked up with his chocolate brown eyes, then stood to his feet and scampered playfully into the hall. Two men were on the floor; one, obviously dead, with a knife in the middle of his forehead and the other on his back, clutching his chest. He sported several cuts across his face and arms, and his breath came in gasps. He was dying.

"Papa!" The little boy yelped playfully and leapt onto his father's chest.

"Gragh!" The man coughed a severe amount of blood onto the toddler's face, sputtering and hacking with the vast amount of creamy crimson liquid in his mouth.

"Pa-…? Wahhhh!" The little boy began to cry and he backed up off of his father and sat against the wall. As he sat, he saw his mother being held up against the opposite wall by her throat, being strangled by a man dressed in a uniform similar to the other deceased assailant.

"S--… sid!" The woman gasped as the man squeezed her small throat with his two vicious vice grips. He panted heavily as he lifted the woman further up along the wall, struggling with an injury he had sustained to his waist. A knife, identical to the one that had stolen the other man's life stuck out adjacent to the angle of his body.

"Run!" The woman's last breath came out erratically as she limply released her own grip on the man's two hands. Her head fell slowly to the side, her eyes coming to a close as the man dropped her to the floor and turned on Sid. Sid screamed as the massive man, over 6 feet tall and weighing about 300 pounds, came towards him with a menacing look upon his face. Sid quickly stood up, following his mothers orders. He made to run for the door leading outside from the main hall, but he was snatched up by the man. Sid screamed again, tears streaming down his face as the man lifted him face to face with his own. He laughed and said, "Now here goes the last of the Algar family…" He grabbed the knife embedded in his side and with a painful grimace on his face, he tore it out in one attempt, a small geyser of blood leaking onto the floor. The knife was colored with scarlet blood, its blade, although small, very sharp, and the handle, similar to that of a household kitchen knife colored with the same crimson hue. He raised it above his head, and as he did, Sid screamed, shielding his face with his hands and closing his eyes. Suddenly, the hands across his waist relinquished their grip, and with a grunt, Sid felt himself falling to the ground.

Sid fell onto the ground, his eyes still closed. He heard the sound of a grunt, with a "Damn," and he heard the sound of shuffling clothing, then, silence. Opening his eyes, he saw that the man had a knife in the side of his neck, his eyes still open, staring at Sid. Looking around, Sid saw a familiar face also on the ground, staring blankly ahead. His father, with his last stand, stood up and plunged the knife stuck in his back into the neck of the goliath intruder. Sid now saw the source of his father's death. His back was coated in blood, two gaping holes located just above his waist. Blood soaked the floor of the Algar home, and as Sid stood, he realized, even at his young age that he was alone. He cried and slowly sat in the same corner he had taken refuge in when his father had his unpleasant recoil. As he sat, he saw yet another knife on the ground beside him. Picking it up, he saw a symbol he recognized carved into the handle. He was young, so he didn't know the terror its name meant. If he was older, he would've known.

It was the symbol of the rising government; that of the Coalition.

* * *

Post-Battle Royale, clean up recovered what seemed to be a personal log of one of the class's players. It is now being held in secret in a high-security facility for The Program research. 

------

Day One

I don't fucking know what time it is.

I haven't exactly done much since I ousted Clayton… ousted? Bahahaha! Yeah, right. I sure did "oust" him. Geez… I actually feel sorry for the guy! Haha! Yeah, right. Never mind that. He got what he deserved. A self-righteous loser like him. He got what he wanted, a true work of art! Something that Picasso, Michelangelo, Van Gogh would shower with their most delicious praises! Something that God himself would frown upon in jealously… Yeah, right. If there is even such thing as a God. Yeah… yeah, right.

Clayton sure was gross. I'm so glad I don't have to look at him anymore. What a gross kid. He should clean himself up. It's his own fault he was stupid enough to hide in the fucking farmhouse just down the beach. What the hell? And he was asleep, wasn't he! Jesus. He deserved it. No more of that senseless bullshit about how great his art is will be heard throughout Earth, seeing as he doesn't even have a tongue anymore. Hell, even he would have trouble hearing it, seeing as he's missing an ear. He probably won't be able to fucking draw anymore, either. One broken arm, one arm that's basically completely gone. He's a mess. Not to mention he's dead….

And what about Lee and Kael? Those fucking hicks… HAHA! Man, I'm glad I finished them off. What losers. I took on Kael one on one while Lee just stood there watching. Maybe idiots like them actually have a sense of honor nowadays. I was half expecting Lee to blast me with that rifle of his during our fight. Haha… now that I think back on it, I was scared for a while there. I don't want to d

I need something to do. I can't just sit here… I've got to get my plan in motion. Wait, no way. There's still, what, 44 students left, as far as I know? No, no no way. I need at most 30 before I can start this thing. I guess I'll just have to go out killing again? Well… that's enough writing for today. I'll write later, as soon as I've killed some of those useless cretins who have the indecency to actually call ME one of their classmates. I'm above them, yeah. Whatever. I've got to go.

Bah, I can't act like this... I know people are going to find this journal as soon as this game is over. I need people to be able to have some evidence as to how great my legacy will be. I'll write while I walk, starting here.

I closed my journal, throwing the pen I was using at the wall. Yes, I'm inside. After killing Clayton I came to this house, just to settle down for a while. I needed to gather myself… I don't think I can keep up with this game much longer. I won't forgive them, though. I need to get through this. I need to think of what I have to accomplish, what I have to do. I've got to avenge my parents' death.

I have to.

I gathered my collection of weapons; my hacksaw, my rifle which I obtained from Kael, and my grenades which I had taken from Lee. These would all come into use sooner or later… I walked towards the door of the house, through the kitchen and through the sitting room. I opened the door, stepping outside into the sun. The sky was fairly cloudy, and there was a slight wind. The lulling sound of the frothing ocean tickled my ear drums as I felt my loose shirt fly about on my body. I smiled and took in my surroundings. I really like this place, I thought. But I've got a mission to do. I've got to kill someone… just a few people more… 14, at the most. Ugh.

I set off at a brisk walk down the suburban complex of towering homes and masterpieces of architecture. I was hungry, with little bread left to spare, and I was thirsty, with only a few gulps of water left in my last water bottle. I know one thing, I need to kill someone. AGH! I can't get it out of my head. I don't know if I can bring myself to end someone's life again. Three people, already. How many more am I going to have to take down? But, I need to. I need supplies. Like I said, I'm low on food and water. I've got to make myself known as the top killer here. I can't hideout like that much more…

I know it sounds like I am trying to protect my classmates, but that's total bullshit. I still hate them. Not because I think I'm better than them, but because I know that they like to sit here while the Earth is ran by fools such as those under command of the Coalition. How can they be so fucking ignorant? They deserve to die in this game. We're run by lunatics, plain and simple. How do they think we got put in this? Because our government enjoys competition between students? Because they want us to get outside more? NO! Because they want to thin the rebellious student population (even though none of these students are even close to rebellious) and they want to intimidate everyone else under their command; they want people to know who's in charge…

The saddest part is, the people do know. Yet, they still sit there and try to act as if nothing is happening. I can't believe they can do that… These people sit there and do nothing while people suffer around the globe. I've got to accomplish something here… I can't just sit here and watch. No fucking way. No. Fucking. Way.

The only reason I'm so hesitant to kill is because I can't bring myself to practice something my tormentors have made a game of. That and I can't stand the thought of stealing a life, just as I had watched my entire family be tossed aside like vermin 12 years ago. I was only three years old… I hardly remember their faces.

No. I can't cry now. I've got a mission I need to accomplish. This isn't even about me anymore. This is about everyone. All of humankind was created equal, right?

Bullshit. God screwed up somewhere. How the hell did these guys get to be so above us, then? Seriously. If humankind was created equal, then we wouldn't be here. I would be with my family… They'd still be alive. There wouldn't be a bite-the-hand-that-feeds relationship that the Coalition has made themselves so renowned for. When did they ever give back? Everyone works tirelessly, day after day to further our society, and what does the Coalition do? They just take it, do what they want. A new sports stadium, so they've got something to brag about. A fast car. Weapons, armor, aircraft. Then, they just pick people off as though they're as expendable as petty change. Where is the stuff that really matters? Affordable housing, a family vehicle, schools, hospitals, where? Haha… you know, it's funny. We came here in a pretty nice bus. What the fuck were we thinking? Hell, even I didn't even know what to expect. Since when does a grade 10 class come on such a sophisticated vehicle? That was a fucking coach bus, unlike the usual custard-yellow buckets of bolts they like to label as "school buses" nowadays. Gee, I wonder when the last time I rid in one of those without it breaking down…? Haha… We're all so blind. We try to delude ourselves into thinking we live in some sort of normal, civilized lifestyle when really we're in a living hell. I can't believe it.

I just wish I could bestow some of my opinions on others… I'm not stupid enough to delude myself into thinking I can accomplish this alone. There aren't very many people ballsy enough to fight back nowadays, let alone even say 'No' once in a while. Hell, that's all we need. Someone who can say No. Someone who can say, that's not right. Anything. Just anything that could rally the people under the command of these idiots.

It annoys me to no end knowing people dedicate themselves day after day trying to better everyone else, people who sacrifice their lives for others, people who would give their every resource to help others in this world, while they just sit there because they're too afraid. I just can't stand it.

I came to a fork in the road. After all that thinking, I had almost lost track of where I was and where I was going. Then again, I don't exactly have much of an idea where I should be headed… There're tons of places I could go. Shit. People could be hiding in these houses… I mean, there're tons of them. I really don't know where to go.

I slowly walked forward and sat on the curb of the sidewalk along the fork in the road. To the left was an extension in the suburban area, while to the right was the exit to the primary highway of the island, where I would probably want to be headed, so I could explore other regions of this island. Maybe instead of focusing on killing I could just get to know the island first, then I could worry about where I would want to go? I could probably just do that.

I took out my map, contemplating where I should want to go. I figured out that I was in zone C2, the place where the bulk of the suburban homes were located. I had already explored the vast majority of the northwest portion of the island… I could either go south to the southwest portion, where the city itself was located, or I could travel east to the northeast where the plains were located. Either way, I would then make my way to the southeast soon after.

I assumed that by traveling to the east, I'd be able to pinpoint people's locations more easily, and of course, in the south, I wouldn't because of the massive amount of houses and stores located there, where people would most likely take refuge.

So then it was settled. I then set off toward the east by taking the right fork of the road, so that I could get onto the highway and make my way east. I stood up, brushing the dust of my legs and shaking my hair. Haha… my hair. It's so gross… I was told by friends of my deceased parents that I was nearly identical to my father, Alex, and that I had inherited my brown eyes from my mother, Shauna. I can't believe I don't even recognize them anymore… The very people who conceived me, created me, taught me. I can't believe I can be so ungrateful.

But that just fuels me more. Knowing I have more to learn about my parents, more to discover makes me want to get out of here and get back at them more. It's just fuel for the fire of my rebellion, so to speak. I wondered where that dolt Dante Zolianis was, and where his good friend Ike Ferdez was…? As much as I hated Dante, I couldn't help but respect him. He was one who wouldn't be afraid to speak his mind, even though it not be against the Coalition, like me. He reminded me of me… We even look alike.

As much as I hated my classmates, now I was feeling remorse… They were people too, even though I had contradicted myself earlier into saying that they deserve nothing short of death. Accomplishing my mission… well, I'd think they'd be grateful. But they have to step aside. I can't have any of them trying to interfere with this… No way. Haha, contradicting myself again. I know I said I couldn't do this alone, though this is different. I can't have another ignorant student interfering with my plans… They'd just be extra weight. They'd be weighing me down, I mean. Whatever.

I continued walking along the highway, absentmindedly staring ahead of me. I wasn't even paying attention to anything… So many thoughts ran through my head that I felt as though I were in some separate void. The only thing I could think of was how I was going to go about my mission. Basically, my goal is to inflict as much damage upon the Coalition as I can within my lifespan. I want to do what my parents did. I want to make a difference. I want to rally the people of the Coalition's nations, I want to strike back. It's going to be a tough battle, but I'm ready for it.

Realizing I didn't exactly know where I was going, I sat on the edge of the highway, bowing my head and staring at my knees. I needed to clear my head before I continued. I can't get ahead of myself. I dropped my weapons to the ground, closing my eyes and sighing.

"Sid! Sid!"

"Run! RUN! RUN! ……"

My parents…

For the first time in as long as I can remember, I cried. A feeling of hopelessness, one of vengeance, one of utmost fury and hatred overcame me. "Those fucking bastards! I'll fucking kill them!" Tears streamed down my face as I wept. I missed my parents… I missed bliss. I missed being a part of something, being important to someone. For as long as I can remember, I was an empty shell, something no one cared about. Yeah, bullshit. Like my aunt and uncle care about me… They're the same kind of people who I loathe to no end. I had a mission to accomplish. I had a goal. For once, I felt important. Haha… It's funny. I'm getting ahead of myself, here. Before I even start fighting against a whole superpower, I'm still fighting against 43 other students…

The tears continued to come as I thought of how much I missed my parents. I knew they were watching over me, I knew they were protecting me. But I missed them…

Time to continue.

* * *

"Huh…?" Ceiling lights, although dim, seemed like the sun itself glaring into the eyes of Dante Zolianis. His body feeling numb and his back feeling stale, he slowly sat up on the long doctor's chair he was sitting on. "Where am I?" He said as he shook his untidy auburn hair. A door was slightly open to his left. He got up and stood on the floor. _Last thing I remember I was with Ike at that little house… Where am I now?_ His legs were weak and wobbly. He slowly began walking, although his knees shook and he felt dizzy. Outside was a hallway. He could hear voices coming from somewhere from the left corridor. He continued walking, feeling his way around and trying to stay upright. 

Trying his utmost to focus, Dante continued to lose his balance. Pressing his arms against the walls as a means of keeping himself up, his feet danced about awkwardly. His left foot tried moving forward but instead slipped and Dante fell face first crashing to the floor. He got up and sat on his knees, feeling the spot on his face, grimacing. _Where am I? _He then noticed that the voices he had heard had stopped, and he heard footsteps. _Ike?_

As he tried to focus, he noticed three blurry images coming into the hallway. One of which, short with a black blob atop it's body, another the same size with odd multicolored hair, and another with the same color spanning his entire body.

"What?"

"Dante!" A familiar voice sounded in Dante's ears.

"Ike? Is that you? I can hardly fucking see!" Dante gleefully exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's me! You're finally awake! You've been asleep for hours!" Dante rubbed his eyes and things were brought into considerably more focus. It was indeed Ike, accompanied by some of Dante's other friends, Ruby and Ryan.

"Ruby! Ryan! How did you guys get here? What the fuck is going on?" The three of them laughed at the ignorant Dante, sprawled about on the floor with his hair untidily flung about. "Seriously! I want to know."

"Well, for starters, Ruby here took out that bullet that was lodged in you," Ryan began. Dante smiled as he looked at Ryan. Dante nodded towards Ruby, and he felt himself melt just by looking at her. "Yeah, I met up with Ike a couple hours ago and the two of us took you here. You should be grateful, you piece of shit."

Dante laughed as he recalled Ryan's obscenely vulgar humor the two of them often shared. Insulting each other was part of what the grade nine boys considered humor these days. "You guys took me here all the way from that house we were at? How did you find us?"

"Well, I heard Ike screaming…" Ryan laughed as he recalled Ike's outburst. "He was pretty upset, I'll have you know."

Dante grinned at Ike, who stood, smiling as he looked into the eyes of his best friend. Meanwhile, Ruby laughed as she looked at Dante. _He is kinda cute…_

Dante, meanwhile, silently mustered up the courage to attempt to speak to Ruby. "So… uhm… er… did you how get here?" Dante turned bright red as he realized he had embarrassed himself in front of the girl whom he loved almost to death.

"Haha… how did I get here? I was here before Ryan and Ike came… I had come here from the school, basically. I came across Stephanie and then I basically decided I should hide somewhere, so I picked here. Ryan and Ike came about half an hour after I arrived here."

"That's cool." Dante said as he stood up onto his two feet. Things were much easier to see now that Dante's vision had finally come into focus, and his sinuses were finally clear so he could keep his balance. "Say," he began. "How did you guys fix my wound? It doesn't hurt at all anymore." Dante reached back and rubbed the spot where the bullet was. It felt raw and stale, though it hardly hurt at all, even when Dante poked and flicked it.

"Like we said," Ruby started. "I took the bullet out and pulled some disinfectant on… Lucky you were asleep, or else it would've hurt pretty bad."

"Thanks, Ruby," Dante said. "I mean, I would've probably, uhm, died or something, right? Thanks, really."

"It was nothing," Ruby replied. "I'm just glad you're OK."

At this, Dante again turned red and buried his face in his arms. Ike and Ryan laughed as Ruby smiled upon the boy who she knew liked her, even though the feelings weren't mutual.

Just then, a rapturous screech filled the air of the island. The four students were all equally surprised, and all cringed, covering their ears, trying to block the unknown siren's song.

"It's noon already?"

The screech soon ceased, and was followed by the dim fuzz of static. The four students looked at each other, wondering when the man they had met in the class would begin talking. Finally, his voice boomed through a hidden speaker, though it was still as clear as ever.

"Greetings, class! It's noon! Yes! I bet you're wondering which one of your fellow students has been ousted, hm? Or where you can't stay 'cause you might be in a forbidden zone, right? Well, that'll have to wait! Right now, we have a special announcement, because we are now introducing a new factor into the game! Yes! Hurray! New factors! Everyone loves something new, right? It's like the latest fad! And everyone loves fads, right! Right! Well, anyway, here are the new rules, if you'd like to call them that, that we have just recently implemented. Right. At every 6 hours, we will drop rewards to the following students; One: The most favorite contestant from polls across Canada, which, in this case, is the sultry vixen Jennifer Penray! Yes, that's right! Head outside Jennifer! There's a gift waiting for you! Hahaha! The second gift goes to the top killer, which, in this case, is blatantly obvious: Sid Algar, with 3 kills! Sid, you'll be given a special present! And, third, the student who we think is most likely to die next, which, in this case, is the increasingly fragile and overly injured Dante Zolianis, thanks to his vicious bullet wound and case of the 'I'm a stupid pussy's'! Hurray for you, Dante! Hurray for being a loser! You're next!"

Dante clenched his fist and grit his teeth at the mention of his name. _How dare he? Fuck him! I'll fucking show him! This is just fuel for my fire, hahaha! _As Dante thought, he heard a loud thud coming from above.

"Something's on the roof!" Shouted Ike, as him and Ryan quickly left the clinic to see what was there.

"Yes, and now you will all have received your gifts by now via parachute drop. And also, another rule is that we are now introducing other elements into the game; traps! Yes, that's right. There'll be all sorts of crazy shit all over the island for you to get your paws on! Bear traps, pits, uhm, yeah! All sorts of things! How exciting!"

Dante frowned and rubbed the floor with his foot as Ruby looked at him with a sympathetic grin on her face.

"Don't worry, Dante… That doesn't guarantee anything… It's just because you're sick."

"Thanks, Ruby… haha.. It's a good thing you're an optimist, or we'd be through." Dante blushed as he complemented Ruby. She laughed in return.

"Yes, and now for the deaths and forbidden zones; all three deaths, courtesy of Sid Algar, the top killer are, Kael Tennant, who had his throat cut open! Ouch! Lee Noble had his brains blasted out by his own best friend's rifle stolen by Sid Algar, and last but DEFINITELY not least, Clayton Petitclerc, horribly and brutally mauled by Sid and left to die in a well! Owie!"

Dante cringed at the thought of Clayton dying a most definitely painful death. Sid was most certainly on the prowl…

"Yes, and finally, the forbidden zones. We're going to be boxing you in a bit more here, so here you go! Get ready! First off, zone E6 will be forbidden at 1:00 PM! Yes! E6 at 1:00! Next, there is H5 at 3:00 PM! And lastly, there is C2 at 5:00 PM! There you go! Good luck out there, you youngsters! Haha… You guys remind me of my younger days… So much aspiration, so much hope… Anyway, try not to die out there!"

A loud click sounded the air to mark the end of his transmission. And with that, the first official portion of the new Battle Royale was over, with four students dead and forty-four to go.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

12:00 PM- 1:00.

The sound of a helicopter's blades cycling throughout the afternoon sky roared across the small coastal island as Ryan Dick and Ike Ferdez tried to figure out a way to reach the large wooden box placed by the helicopter on top of the roof of the small clinic. There were no obvious routes such as ladders or stairs, which left the boys to imagine ways of constructing makeshift stepping-stools as a means of reaching the top.

"Uhm… how about… using Dante to get up?" Ike mumbled cautiously so as to not embarrass himself too much.

"Hahaha! Too bad Dante's sick to the max." Ryan laughed and slapped Ike in the face, as Ike blushed and ruffle his hair in embarrassment.

Ryan usually was a nice guy, though he had a knack for taking his playful remarks and attitude over in some instances. He'd often fight and wrestle in the hallways as a joke, though sometimes he'd take things overboard with elbows and knees to the face, which sent many-a-student to the nurse's office with bloody noses and black eyes.

"I don't suppose you have a better idea? There isn't exactly anything around here we could use to get up there." Ike frowned and stared up at the cardboard box.

"No, I don't. Though I bet if I did it'd be better than yours." Ryan laughed and began to amble back inside the clinic.

"Wait!" Ike spoke up finally. "I've got an idea."

Ryan turned around, curious as to what Ike's new idea would be, considering his last idea was quite a joke, in his opinion anyway.

"You're strong enough to give a boost, eh?" Ike smiled as he saw Ryan's obvious discomfort.

"You? You're a fucking fatty! I can't lift all that lard so high! I'll die!" Ryan and Ike shared a laugh, not even mentioning whether or not it was a good idea.

Dante and Ruby stepped outside, to which they noticed the sky was a healthy azure, with a few clouds dotting the sky. The morning wind had died down and had made way to a slow, cool breeze, rippling the tall blades of grass and throwing the longer-haired students' manes about.

"What're you fags up to?" Dante asked with a grin on his face. Ruby stood silently admiring the three boys' ability to demean each other so blatantly and so viciously and still be able to laugh it off. Most girls Ruby knew would usually take playful banter as insulting, and would often sulk in their rooms for hours because of a playful comment. Ruby, too, sometimes fell under this category though in most instances she could usually shrug it off.

"We're just trying to find a way to get that box on top of the building," Ryan said. "We think our plan is to just give Ike a boost up to the top. I don't know if I can do it alone, though. You see, Ike is really fat and even I may not be strong enough to lift him up there by myself."

"Hey, I'm not fat!" Ike laughed and punched Ryan lightly in the jaw. Ryan laughed and retaliated with a kick in the shins.

"It's nice to see you chums are laughing it up so much," Ruby said in a tone of amusement. "I never once thought people could be so carefree in this game."

Ike and Ryan looked at each other with a look that said 'Get a load of this,'.

"Whoa, now you're getting the wrong idea," Ike said as he smirked sarcastically. "We're not carefree, just… playful? Hah." Ike grinned pensively at Ryan, who added,

"Yeah, we just need a way to lighten up. Besides, I think it's better for everyone if we stay loose… Right?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense now…" Ruby laughed as the two started about their plan.

"No!- Hey, shit! Hey, come on! Je- get your foot up! No, the other foot! Wha- come on! Whoa, whoa, whoa, shit!" Ryan, who was trying to lift Ike up to grab onto the roof by his feet, collapsed over backwards as the unbalanced Ike teetered about on the small platform made by Ryan's rough palms. Ike crashed down headfirst on top of Ryan, his legs falling onto the ground. Ryan grunted as Ike's head collided with his stomach, and Ike began to laugh uncontrollably as he saw Ryan panting for breath beneath him.

Dante and Ruby too, joined in on the laughing, all of them thankful for the fact that they can lighten up in the light of the brutality surrounding them.

* * *

Morrison Pagem, Boy Number Seventeen, sighed as he traipsed through the trees of G3, which was centered about a small forest, a different one from the one the school was located. Having been traveling alone for the most part of the game, he had grown bored and was desperate to see someone… Dante, Ike, his friends Devin and Cody, anyone. The thought of death was always enlightening to Morrison, seeing as he had lived a rather rough life. His mother had left shortly after he was born, and his father was a raging alcoholic, usually channeling his fury into his fists. These same fists which made Morrison's life a sham, the same fists which made him the way he is… 

Morrison sighed again as he thought of his father, the man who had made his life so horrible. If Morrison ever knew fear, his father was always on the other end. He took to beating Morrison when he was angry, which was often, considering alcohol was the only remedy for his rabid personality and social life. Morrison's brother, Vin, moved out of their home when Morrison was still in elementary school, after dropping out of high school and moving in with his girl friend's family. Sick of the abuse he received from his father, he retreated as soon as he figured he could make it on his own. Morrison never found out what happened to Vin, though it didn't bother him considering, like his mother, Vin was never there for him.

Needless to say, Morrison was a troubled boy. He had never had very many friends since he was so shy, and he had struggled for as long as he could remember when it came to academics. Morrison couldn't delude himself into thinking he was adept and any subjects like Mechanics and Art, though there was one thing that Morrison could trust, one thing he could retreat to, rely on, even live on. Music.

It was simple; sure, music was made by humans, but did music beat the living shit out of you when you asked how it's day was? Did it walk out on you without giving you a second chance, or someone else a second chance? Did it yell at you? Well, theoretically, no, but the music Morrison was into was screamo, and he loved it. How could he not? It was the stuff he could relate to, the stuff where people came from shitty homes just like his, but they had made a better name for themselves, they had gotten away from it all. That was what Morrison wanted to do; it was an inspiration to him.

Stepping across a branch, a loud crunch sounded throughout the tranquil afternoon sky. The sound of birds chirping, and the distant recession and outbursts of the ocean's waters filled the air. Leaves rustling with the slight wind and branches crackling against trees and under Morrison's feet provided a rough acoustic melody, as Morrison's own breathing provided a quiet, yet bold, background sound. Morrison smiled as he listened to the serene symphony played by the very own environment he was in.

"Life is a song," he thought. He smiled again and sighed. Though this was different from those earlier sighs; this was a happy sigh. Morrison continued walking; brushing aside his swept black hair to make things easier to see.

Morrison was good looking, though his shyness made it hard for him to ever interact with the opposite sex. He was never actually into any girls… well…. Except for one. Erin Hill… She was nice… and she liked music! What's better? Well, nothing, really.

The thought of Erin absent-mindedly speeded up the repetitive motion of Morrison's bottom half. Another inspiration, hah, he thought.

Finally, Morrison reached a break in the trees, from which he saw a highway, and across that highway, the ocean, reaching endlessly as far as the horizon could let Morrison's eyes see.

"Still no one," he thought. Morrison exhaled deeply, trying to figure out where he could find some friends. "Hah, how can I think of where I could find someone? This island's huge, and I'm small. Too bad. I wish I knew where Erin was…"

"Morrison? That you?"

"Huh?"

* * *

Lauren Johnson, girl number Twelve, walked across the shores of G5, alongside a friend of hers, Boy Number Twenty Two, Shane Appleby. The two met up shortly after the game started, still in the forests of D4, very close to the school. On her way out of the forest, she had tripped on a rock, scraping her knee, causing some blood to spill. Waiting about 20 minutes before she moved again, (a decision she had thought would be risky), Shane stumbled up on her. After Shane helped fix up Lauren's wound, the two agreed up on a mutual consensus that they will fight together. Although they were merely acquaintances at school, Lauren had decided that fighting in groups was better than fighting alone, and besides, Shane was reliable enough. After all, he helped clean up her knee and everything. 

"Whaddya wanna do next?" Shane asked in a careless, lazy voice. Lauren, taken aback by his apathy, replied

"Whatever floats your boat."

Shane frowned and said, "Well, I'm asking you. You want to find some of your friends? I'm up for finding Zach, only if it's okay with you."

"Oh, yeah. He is your best friend, anyway. Sure, let's go."

Lauren smiled at Shane as he looked at her, with his blank grey eyes, (which were rather cute) and his short blonde hair, (which was also cute).

"Fantastic," Shane said in his apathetic voice once more.

Lauren thought it was very odd that Shane could still act badass in a game as serious as this. Unless that's him, anyway. People are out to kill us in this game, not admire us. Whatever.

The two of them began to head to the forests of G3, until they heard something that made the hairs on their back stand on end (even Shane's).

A gunshot.

* * *

"I can't believe we're doing this," Devin Gryznatch, Boy Number Seven said as he stood in the forest of G3. 

"He deserves it, the faggot." Cody Ligon, Boy Number Nineteen barked as he kicked the boy in the face.

Morrison Pagem lay on the ground, a gunshot wound in his chest. Blood soaked his collared shirt, as his hair lay over his eyes, the eyes beneath that of fury.

"How could this happen?" Morrison said as he laid there, betrayed by the very two friends of his that he thought he could trust. "They were my friends… why?"

A girl with dark skin stood against a tree, long black hair flowing around her head, her arms crossed holding a gun, a basic CZ95 pistol, with smoke rising from the barrel. It was Erin Hill, who had shot Morrison as he was walking in front of the group. Hey, it was part of the plan.

"Erin, why'd you have to start this?" Devin asked as he flexed his arms, staring hopelessly at Morrison.

"WHAT? Are you fucking kidding me? It was your fucking idea! I don't even know this little shit! You guys put me up to it!"

"No… er. You said so, I remember. 'Let's kill him, guys.'"

"That's such bullshit! Get your fucking dick out of your ass, you piece of shit!"

"Both of you, calm down. Let's just leave him here." Cody snapped as he watched the pitiful Morrison try to claw his way along the ground away from him.

"Why does this hurt so much?" Morrison twitched as he felt the pain in his chest spike viciously as he tried to move his arm. "Why did Erin do this…? I… I love… her." Tears. At a time like this?

"Look… he's crying." Cody smirked as he watched the pitiful human soul plea for escape. "Pansy, get the fuck up. Hahaha, I'm a better musician than he was and I'm a better killer."

"I shot him, not you." Erin frowned as Cody raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

After shooting Dante, Erin retreated to E6, where a vast complex of industrial

buildings were located… One thing about Erin was that she was the only one who knew the name of the town, thanks to a billboard in the district titled "Castle Rock's Industries! Leading in all of Canada in fishing."

Shortly after, she came out of her panic and managed to regain her composure. She began to search for her friends, Vanessa and Ruby, until the first announcement. At this time ,she was notified by the teacher that Dante was not dead. This would mean Dante was most certainly out for revenge, so she had to be on the lookout. She decided teaming up with anyone would help her out, and after exploring most of the island, she came across Devin and Cody. She didn't exactly like them, though at the time she knew she needed companions, so the three of them had gone about the island planning on killing anyone they didn't like. Morrison fell under that category.

"Look at him. Egotistical little cock can't even fight back. Little pussy." Tears streaked down Morrison's face as the pain in his chest throbbed uncontrollably. His face also pulsated with pain from Cody's kick, and Morrison could feel the blood from his open wound leaking onto the rest of his clothes. Cody's weapon, a butterfly knife, was in his back pocket, while Devin's weapon, a coat hook, had been abandoned long ago, due to its obvious uselessness. Cody took the butterfly knife out of his pocket, swinging it around clumsily trying to feel intimidating.

"I'm so much better at that than you." Devin said, laughing as Cody made an idiot out of himself with his ineptness in handling the weapon. "I do that all the time with drums. It's the exact same."

"Here, take it." Cody threw the weapon at Devin, who quickly dodged, aware of the shiny blade. Picking up the weapon by the handle, Devin commented,

"Nah, I'd rather not waste my energy. You know, this game is all about playing at your best level. My best level is best spent not wasting my energy on this knife."

Cody laughed, saying, "That's what I thought, you dick."

Erin got off of the tree and noticed Morrison's tears, and his gaze focused directly upon her. "Stop looking at me, freak." Reeling back her right leg, she sent her foot crashing into Morrison's teeth. A dull crack sounded as several of Morrison's teeth spilled out his mouth, accompanied by a scarlet flow of blood and a loud whimper, followed by a groan. After noticing the vast majority of his teeth were in front of him in the dirt, he groaned again, looking up at Erin.

"My life is horrible." He thought.

"Stop looking at me!" Erin again brought back her leg, sending it crashing into Morrison's face.

Again, more blood spilled out of Morrison's open mouth, though the teeth that could have been knocked out were already scattered amongst the dry foliage of the earth.

"Why is she doing this?" He thought. More tears spilled down Morrison's face… "At least I'll be gone soon… it'll all be over."

Cody stood watching as Erin trembled over Morrison's frail body. "What a dick. Why won't he die?"

Morrison trembled as the verbal assault continued… He coughed, as more blood spilled out of his mouth. Finally, he managed to speak.

"Why…?" The stress placed on Morrison's vocal chords seared through the rest of his body down to his chest. Stabbing pains erupted throughout his entire torso.

"He spoke!" Devin turned around, in awe of Morrison's strong will, even though he had appeared to be such a weak person at school and at band practices.

"Why…?" Again, Morrison's entire body burst with pain, as a small amount of blood spilled out of his mouth once more.

No one spoke as Morrison lay trembling on the ground, soaked with his own blood. Cody stood in awe, his arms at his sides, as Erin stood sobbing over Morrison's body. Devin, meanwhile, stood in shock, still holding the butterfly knife thrown at him by Cody.

"Ans… answer…"

Finally, Devin conjured up the will to speak.

"Well… it was… a mutual agreement… Mostly… Cody… idea." Devin muttered under his breath so as to not provoke Cody.

"You fucking idiot! It was as you said! MUTUAL AGREEMENT! You're so thick. Shut the fuck up. You too, fucker!" Cody screamed into Morrison's ear.

Erin knelt by Morrison's face, slowly. After hesitating for a moment, she grabbed his hair and jerked his head backward so as to meet him eye to eye.

"Why won't you die?" Erin glared into Morrison's blank, sorrowful eyes.

Morrison simply laid on the ground, staring into the eyes of his one true love. Struggling to speak once more, he uttered

"Love…"

Erin gasped, dropping his face to the ground and stepping backward into a tree.

"You… you love me?" Erin's heart dropped into her stomach as her chest tightened uncomfortably. She had just killed the one who loved her?

Morrison tried nodding, though his body was so stiff and painful that all he could do was shake a little.

"Erin… love…"

Erin simply stood as she stared at Morrison.

Suddenly, Cody made a dexterous motion; stealing the knife from Devin in one arm swipe, he strode over to Erin, using his one arm to hold her two arms by her sides, he brought the knife to her throat with his other.

All Morrison could see was his life turning upside down.

One slice, and it was over.

Erin fell clumsily to the ground as blood spilled nauseously from her throat, spraying the ground with crimson. Her eyes stared blankly ahead as she crashed to the ground in front of Cody, and as she reeled back her blood sprayed like a fountain several feet, coating Morrison with her bodily fluids. She fell face to face with Morrison, her eyes staring straight into his.

"Ugnnnghhhh!" Trying to scream, 'No!' Morrison could only muster an elongated, unearthly groan.

Cody, meanwhile, stood over Erin's corpse, with a malicious grin on his face.

"Now, there's just you." Rearing on Morrison with his knife, he laughed wickedly as Devin stood cowering against a large tree.

From being a cocky guitar player, obsessed with women and bent on becoming a famous musician, Cody had become a monster, twisted by the cruel environment he had been placed in. From now on, there was only one person that mattered to him in this game, and that was Cody. Fuck Devin, Morrison. Fuck them all, really.

Cody slowly ambled over to Morrison, his knife held high over his head. Devin continued to tremble with fear as his best friend slowly merged from being a kind-hearted, though egotistical musician into a cold-blooded killer.

Suddenly, the sound of an object rushing through a tunnel of air filled the small clearing. A dull, though loud thud, followed by a cartoon-ish springy noise echoed off of the tree's bark exterior. As Cody turned around to see the source of the noise, he saw a feathered arrow sticking out of the tree just behind him.

As soon as Cody realized the arrow had hit, Lauren Johnson and Shane Appleby emerged from the tree's foliage, with Lauren wielding a crossbow, and Shane carrying a small shield. Cody chuckled at the odd couple and adjusted his knife to a better fighting stance in his right hand. Devin, meanwhile, stood in awe as Lauren loaded another arrow onto her crossbow.

Suddenly, Shane rushed Cody with his round buckler. Holding it from the rear handle, he thrust his arms forward, crashing the shield into Cody's torso. Though Cody had tried getting in a knife swing, Shane was too agile and strong with his shield to get away a good hit. As Shane looked to his right, he saw Devin rush at Lauren with his fists flailing. In her panic, Lauren quickly launched an arrow from her crossbow. The rushed shot flew into the air at an odd angle and landed about 50 feet away amongst the other trees.

Devin, meanwhile, brought his fist into Lauren's jaw, sending her tumbling into the forest. Lauren reeled back, crashing onto her back with an arrow in her right hand and her crossbow in the other. As she got up, she felt dizzy and her vision was a little blurred. Devin stood back several feet with his fists in front of his face in a fighting stance. So long as Lauren doesn't have arrows loaded up in her bow, I'm safe at this distance, he thought. And he was right.

Lauren quickly fumbled with an arrow, trying to jam it into the brace position. However, Devin proved the more agile and sent his foot flying into Lauren's stomach. Again, Lauren tumbled backward, though this time, her crossbow flew into a nearby tree. In her other hand, she still held the arrow. Getting up once more, she tried to breath, though Devin's well-placed kick had knocked the wind out of her. Devin laughed, thinking, two years of karate… hah. Who would've thought they'd come in such use? Er… well… I guess it is self defense.

This time, Lauren managed to launch the offensive. Swinging her arrow like a blade above her head in a vertical motion, she barely missed a back-sliding Devin. The tiny arrowhead on the short wooden shaft made for an awkward melee weapon, though in a sense it was more useful than hand-to-hand combat, especially considering Devin had some experience, judging by his blows. Lauren again tried swinging her arrow at Devin, this time in a horizontal motion as she dashed forward. Again, Devin proved the more able fighter, side stepping quickly and launching out his foot in front of Lauren's stopping the motion of her feet and sending her top half crashing face first into the ground. Lauren yelped as her face collided with the tinder laid amongst the Earth's surface. She couldn't fight like this…

Shane lifted his shield at a 45 degree angle from his face, blocking the swift swipe from Cody's knife, making a sharp noise indicating the collision of two metal objects. Cody then swung out his foot, trying to kick Shane in the side. Shane quickly brought his shield to his waist, letting the foot collide with the metal surface.

"Ow!" Cody cringed a little as his toes collided painfully with the solid bracer. Shane took this opportunity to make a punching motion with his shield, sending a crashing metal into Cody's face. Falling to the ground, Cody raised his butterfly knife against Shane so as to repel a follow-through attack. However, Cody had not braced himself for the fall, and his head crashed against a stray root along the ground. His knife arm falling limply to his side, he saw Shane raising his shield above his head preparing to strike Cody in the forehead, which, at most, would inflict a major cut on his face.

Quickly rolling along the leaves and dirt on the ground, Cody dodged the blow and heard the shield collide with the woody exterior of the branch. Looking back, he saw Shane had overcompensated and had accidentally lodged his shield into the branch. As Shane quickly analyzed the obvious predicament he was in, he searched the ground in front of him for a branch of able fighting length and size. Though, Cody took this opportunity to launch an attack. Extending his arm forward, letting the hinged blade do the work, he managed to inflict a minor cut on Cody's wrist. Juicy scarlet oozed slowly out of his wound as Shane winced and clutched his arm with his other hand.

Shane frowned and realized he had no hope in repelling Cody's attack with merely his hands. Instead, he tried once more to grab his shield and wrench it out of the ground. As he reached forward in his stride to pick up the blade, he felt another slice from Cody's knife sear across his right bicep, the opposite arm of which had previously been sliced. More blood seeped through the two cuts, slowly into the long-sleeve collared white shirt he was wearing.

"Damnit, this is gonna stain!"

As he placed both of his hands on the tip of his shield and his foot at the base of the root, he used his whole upper body strength trying to pull the shield out and the whole lower half of his strength trying to provide leverage for the rest of his body. As he held onto the shield, he noticed he was making his progress, until he felt a branding iron get pressed in-between his ribs.

"AGHHH!" Pain shot throughout Shane's entire torso as the wound struck him. He could feel blood oozing out through the small perforations the space between the knife and his flesh left. Meanwhile, the knife stuck in him still as Cody laughed. Suddenly, Cody realized that, he, too, had lodged his weapon too far into an object. Quickly taking his hands back to the handle of his knife, he yanked repeatedly, trying to lodge the weapon from in-between Shane's ribs. The two quickly engaged each other in a pulling war, each trying to dislodge his weapon from the nooks they were so diligently lodged into.

Meanwhile, Morrison lay on the ground, letting the tears flow and letting the thoughts fly. Morrison could feel himself slipping away, the pain in his chest dissipating and the blood from his mouth slowing it's descent through the rocky ravine that was the remnants of his jaw line to the dry, leafy ground below his mouth. He stared into Erin's eyes, wishing this hadn't happened.

"Erin…" Morrison thought. He tried to speak, though the tension on his vocal chords proved too much a task for the rest of his body, as all it did was swell up his chest.

"Why have things gone so horribly wrong, everywhere?" Morrison cried and sobbed as he looked back on the sham of a life he had. "I've tried to never do any wrong, and what happens? I get fucked over. I've never lived a happy day. Ever. This is how it ends, huh? How fitting. Pitted against the friends I thought I had, and killed by the girl I thought I could truly love. I just hope my father can be happy; good luck brother, fuck you mother." Morrison felt his eyes close by themselves as the rest of his body began to shut down…

Lauren lay on the ground with Devin over top of her, laughing as he slowly placed his foot onto the back of her throat.

"Looks like I won this one," Devin said as he smiled wickedly. Placing more pressure on her throat, he laughed as Lauren struggled feebly to get out of his submission hold. Flailing the arm with the arrow in it around, trying to stab him in the leg, she sputtered helplessly, trying to call for help from Shane.

"Who knows what's happened to him…?" Lauren desperately tried to get out of Devin's hold. Finally, she cranked her arm to her side and brought her elbow in, jabbing the arrow into Devin's calf.

"Ack!" The pain shot through Devin's left leg as the arrow plunged into his leg, and he lost the strength he needed to pin Lauren down. Quickly standing up, Lauren rubbed her arm where she had made the exhausting maneuver. Devin fell to his behind slowly, tears flowing from behind his eyelids as he tried to pull the arrow from out of his leg.

"Why the fuck am I helping Cody? He's going to kill us all!" Lauren walked slowly over to Devin, preparing to end his feeble life. She knelt in front of Devin who had his eyes closed, placed her hands on the shaft of the arrow, and pulled with all her might. The sharp arrowhead slid easily out of the perforation in Devin's leg, as a small geyser of blood followed the metal signet out of its hole. Devin screamed in pain as the morbid ordeal drained his energy.

Devin opened his eyes, to see the last thing he would ever see. Out of his left eye, anyway. The same sharp arrowhead that had been plunged into his leg came searing into his eye, blocking one fifth of his vision. Screaming once more in pain, a strange slimy liquid poured down Devin's face, most likely the juices which his former left eye had played host to. Devin continued screaming, the veins in his throat pulsating with the might of how much stress he was placing on his vocal chords.

"My… eye!" Devin sobbed as he sat, denying the fact that his life may soon be over. Devin never wanted to die... He just wanted to live his life the way he wanted, free from everyone else. That's why he argued with everyone so much. He couldn't stand the way other people lived, different from his point of view. To Devin, anything Devin said was correct. To Devin, anything Devin thought was correct. To Devin, anything Devin believed was to be believed by all. That's why he disagreed with people all the time.

Lauren cringed as she decided to end his life. Once more preparing to take the arrow from Devin's eye socket, she placed her hands on the wooden shaft, and yanked it out quickly so as to make Devin's end of the bargain far more tolerable. However, this was quite an understatement considering Devin's pain was unbearable.

"All this 'cause I wanted to stick up for a friend," he thought. "It was in me all along… no matter what Cody was, I had to protect him. Didn't even have to think about it… Well. There's no other way of thinking about this, Devin. We're done."

Lauren gagged as a white, marble substance formerly known as Devin's eye stuck on the other end of the arrow. Flicking it through the air, getting it off, she decided to ensue the final blow. With Devin's mouth still open, it'd be easy.

"This is gonna be soooooo gross." She thought.

She plunged the arrow diagonally across his face, down through his mouth, into the base of his throat. He immediately stopped screaming, and then he fell to his side, at first still, until the rest of his body began to shake uncontrollably. The mangled face stared horribly ahead, one eye closed, one eye attempting to be closed, though only revealing a fleshy myriad of crimson and mustard yellow. Devin Gryznatch was dead.

Shane pulled hard on the shield stuck in the ground, until finally, it came free from the branch it was embedded in. However, Cody's knife was still stuck in his side, as though it were still spraying sparks of pain throughout the rest of his body. Cody, upon seeing that now Shane had the advantage, released his grip on the knife and walked slowly backward. "I'll have to finish you later," he thought. He quickly darted through the woods, without weapons and without comrades.

Thinking he was as good as dead anyway, Shane let him run. Besides, he was injured enough as it is. Fuck running.

He turned around to see Morrison on the ground, dead. "Poor guy," he thought. "Killed by the girl he loved… as far as I know anyway." Shane quickly assumed the bullet wound in his back was from the gun in Erin's dead hands, seeing as nobody else on the premise was wielding a gun. Reaching over to grab it, he saw Lauren emerge from the opposite end of the clearing, looking hopeful. All Shane did was shake his head. There was nothing left to say. Three deaths. Nothing.

* * *

Dante stood inside the clinic, trying not to fall asleep as him and Ruby finished their conversation about local bands. The topic was boring considering Ruby had a much different taste than his, and he was tired enough to begin with. Well, even though he had slept for a few hours prior to this, he was still tired enough to fall back asleep. 

Ryan and Ike's unsuccessful attempts at retrieving the wooden box on the roof of clinic proved much less entertaining considering it was becoming more frustrating than amusing, and they had basically made no progress. All that was left, was to wait.

"Say, I haven't seen Morrison yet?"

BOY NUMBER SEVEN, DEVIN GRYZNATCH DEAD

BOY NUMBER SEVENTEEN, MORRISON PAGEM DEAD

GIRL NUMBER NINE, ERIN HILL DEAD

41 STUDENTS REMAINING


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

"Hey, Dante!"

Dante Zolianis awoke from a short nap to the authoritarian bark of Ike Ferdez's drill sergeant shout.

"Uhghmm…. Huh?"

Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands and trying to bring things into focus, Dante slowly stood up, stretching and yawning.

"Dante, hurry up!" Ike once more called from outside the clinic. Quickly snapping back into reality, Dante hurriedly walked outside, through the front door to where he saw his three friends standing beside the small building. Ike was on the roof, with Ryan still on the ground and Ruby standing nearby. Near Ike was the large crate dropped about an hour ago by a Coalition helicopter, its mahogany exterior sticking out amongst the backdrop of ocean and sky blue.

"Wow, you got up there?" Dante said in awe. It was hard to believe a pair as comically inept as Ryan and Ike could manage to make it on top of the building, but now that they had, Dante's insides swelled with excitement. "What's in there?" He asked.

"Well… as you can see, the box is closed. Lacking x-ray vision, I can't exactly tell what's in there from outside. Though, I can tell you one thing. There's no cure for absolute retardation in here, that's for sure."

Dante grinned and ruffled his hair as Ruby and Ryan laughed.

"Alright, alright, I'll open it up." Ike turned around and placed his hands on the edge of the top face of the box, pulling down on a jutting portion as though to open it downward. Ike's face twisted with effort as he attempted to pull, though as hard as he tried to pull, the box didn't open. "Okay… not opening. Here, I'll push it off of here."

"You sure? Maybe there's something fragile inside," Dante commented.

"It's worth a try." Ike said as him and Dante shrugged at each other.

Cool, Dante thought. The box was soon to be opened and this was the first time him and Ike would be officially working together. Sure, they had found that hideout together, but hey, that was just luck. Ike had carried Dante and his bags all the way here, which was all him. But now, Dante and his best friend would be able to combine their mutual efforts into the same task.

"Okay, just push." Dante called as Ike placed his palms against the opposite face of the box from where they were standing. Ike's face again twisted with effort as he managed to gain a bit of leverage, moving the box a few centimeters from its resting place. As he did this, he gained some momentum, moving it from where it had sat for the last hour. The box moved easily as Ike pushed it on top of the small raise from the surface of the roof to a small barrier of sorts on the edge.

"Push, man, push." Dante said once more as the crate loomed above them on the edge of the building. Ike lightly kicked the box over, making it teeter over slowly, sending it crashing to the ground.

"Kay, now jump down here and we'll open this bad boy together." Dante said as Ike slowly let himself down the building, which was at least nine or ten feet high. As he hit the ground, he clapped his hands together, brushing a small amount of dust off.

"Okay, let's work it."

"Make it."

"Do it."

"Makes us."

"Harder, better, faster, stronger…" The two boys laughed heartily at their rendition of Daft Punk's 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.'

"Yeah, erm, work to do."

Ruby and Ryan stared at the two friends with a look of sarcastic amusement as they hurriedly placed their hands along the top of the opening face of the box.

"Pull!" Ike said as him and Dante placed their combined effort onto the lid.

"Erhghhh!"

Slowly, but surely, their combined effort jarred the lid from it's hinges, and the one face of the box fell off. Inside, to their surprise, was…

Another box.

"What? What the fuck is this?" Ike spat.

"Don't worry, it's smaller… Let's just get this over with."

One by one, Ike and Dante opened the boxes, each one getting smaller. Ryan and Ruby stood watching, only saying things like, "Go faster," or "You suck at box-opening."

Finally, they reached what had to have been the final box. Unlike the other ones which were decked in mahogany and were cubic in shape, this one was small and rectangular, covered in a velvety surface of scarlet.

"Well, it's, uhm, your box, Dante." Ike laughed at the cheesy statement, then followed up with, "Open it."

Dante nodded, then slowly reached into the second smallest box, apprehensively, as though the smallest box contained some sort of proximity-activated bomb. As his fingertips grazed the surface of the box, he felt the short hairs and the soft, yet firm surface underneath. Clasping his hands on the box, he felt that it was light. He took it from its place inside the box and held it in front of him in the sunlight.

"Ooooopen it." Ruby drawled as she stared excitedly at the case.

Slowly, his hands trembling with nervousness, Dante placed his left hand on the lid of the box, pulling the lid of slowly. Inside, there was a solitary note, tied politely with a ribbon of emerald. The shiny paper and elegant ribbon made it look very official. Dante reached in and delicately clasped the paper between his dry fingers. Using his fingers to release the paper from the ribbon's grasp, he slowly unrolled the paper, seeing what looked like ebony ink atop the silky paper. The writing was hurried and scribbled on by what looked like a three year old.

As Dante eyed the scrambled text, he realized that it was from his family…

"What the fuck? Guys, guys! Check this out! Holy fuck! Shit! It's from my family! Here, I'll read it aloud." The other three students each scrambled around Dante, looking over his shoulder to read the letter he held in his hands.

The letter started with;

_Dante._

_  
It's your brother, Kevin. As you may have realized, this writing is hurried and I'm really, really not making much of an effort to make it seem formal or anything. We've just been rushed outside. You left a while ago to school. As soon as you did, this car pulled up with the Coalition symbol on it. They told us that you'd be put in this game, Dante. I know you're worried. I know you are. But you have to realize, you're not the only one out there. I know Ike is with you and I know he'll be helping you. He's your best friend. I have to tell you this ,Dante. As soon as you left, dad dad flipped out. He tried to run down the street to the school to get you. You were too far. The coalition workers caught up with him, and they beat him, dante. they killed dad they just shot him. Dads dead, dude. I can't even believe I still have the sanity to write this. I am at gunpoint, though, dante. courts already dead, mom, i don't know, don't want to know. they made me write it cause they knew me and you were buds. Listen, dante, listen. I'm not gonna say you have to win this, dante. theres more to win here than the game. Theres a fucking war, if you haven't noticed. A war between us and them. youre regular, dante. you gotta realize, we live in a fucked up world. you can change this, dante. you can change. You need to change this. For everyone, man. I believe in you. This is the last you'll ever see of me, hah. i've got faith in you, buddy. They're giving me 30secondstoliveihavetowrite asm uciaspossible, go dante go, go dante go, come on, I can't even think of anything, goodbye, goodbye, good-_

All Dante could do was… nothing. He just stood there, perplexed, wondering how the Coalition could've gotten this shit across to him.

The three others merely stood in awe, frozen in fear as to what Dante's reaction could be. They knew Dante had a short fuse, but this was different… All of Dante's family was dead. They could tell just by standing that Dante was crushed.

"It's a lie." Dante said as he turned around sharply, a casual smirk on his face. "It's a bold-faced lie." He shrugged and ruffled his hair, his trademark routine for relieving himself of an awkward spotlight he had been placed in.

Dante turned back around, the note still in his hand. Absent-mindedly, his hand clenched itself into a fist, crushing the paper into a crisp ball. His mind was empty, vacant of thoughts. All he could think of was… nothing, really. A mental overload? How could someone expect so many thoughts to be able to run through his brain in such a short amount of time? How could something like this have happened? Oh, right, it didn't. It's just a lie, he kept telling himself. A bold… faced… lie.

Ike stood watching as Dante stared blankly into the distance, his hair flying about in the slight ocean breeze. The other two, Ryan and Ruby, stood as well, apprehensive as to what Dante may do now that he had finished reading the letter. 'This is definitely not what he's thinking. He knows this is true. I know it is.' Ike lowered his head to the ground. Hell, even considering that this wasn't his family, it still came as a huge shock. He couldn't even imagine what thoughts were running through Dante's head. He was his best friend, but all he could do was… wait. Nothing to say, no words of comfort, no words of condolence came into his mind. 'Quick, quick, you gotta think of something! He's gonna flip out!'

Ike suddenly realized; he was mentioned in that letter. Did Kevin really trust him that much to attempt to keep an eye on Dante? I mean, for one thing, Ike could barely manage himself. He had proved that with his outburst a few hours ago in the clinic… but then again… that was when Dante was unconscious… 'With Dante here, can I feel protected? I mean, the reason I flipped out was because he was dying… but… now that he's here, what do I have to fear? What am I going to do?' Frustration overcame Ike. The more he thought, the more questions kept popping up in his mind. And the more questions that came popping into his mind, the more unanswered questions came as well. He honestly couldn't think of anything to do.

'A war, huh?' Dante thought. 'A war. Us against them. Now that's an understatement. It's a fucking… fuck. I want to fucking kill those bastards… I WANT TO FUCKING KILL THEM!' Pure, unbridled rage coursed throughout Dante's veins. His other fist, which wasn't clutching the piece of paper in his hand clenched violently, his long and unkempt fingernails thrusting awkwardly into his palms. His toes buckled and caressed the soft ground beneath him through his shoes, as his forehead throbbed with pain. His throat seized and he felt vomit surging up his throat. All this pain… all this rage…!

"AGHHHHH!" A scream of volcanic proportions ripped from Dante's throat into the once serene ocean layout. Veins in Dante's throats bulged and throbbed with the might of his vocal assault; his eyes bloodshot and his fists at his jaw. Without even realizing it, Dante was going insane. At this point, he had lost total control. His fists flailing and his throat surging, Dante tore into the pile of boxes which him and his best friend had dug through so cooperatively.

As Ike stood, watching Dante's primal fit, he didn't feel surprised in the least. This was Dante. The same Dante, his best friend, Dante as his protector and him as Dante's protector. The mutual respect they shared, their undoubtedly unbreakable bonds of friendship, tying them together forever. This had been sealed with Dante's last protector's letter. 'Kevin Zolianis, fallen victim of the Coalition. You'll be missed, Kevin. Sorely missed.'

Thomas Phillips (Boy Number Twenty-Four) trudged his way along the riverside of F4, along the river which reached from the northern end of the island traveling south. He had been constantly moving since the beginning of the game, aware that if he were to stay in one spot, he could be easily cornered. He was with his best friend, Nick Palagian (Boy Number Twenty-Three). The two of them had met up at the beginning of the game, only separate by Girl Number Twenty-three Danica Kyle.

Thomas was a polite British boy with a liking to the Beatles and music in general. He was small and plump with a mop of golden hair, sprawled in the shape of a bowl atop his round, boyish head. A few paces in front of him, Nick Palagian walked, quietly alert, his firm biceps quivering anxiously.

Thomas had certainly gotten the luck of the draw when it came to weapons; his was an extremely powerful .357 magnum. He had it in his right hand, his finger itching to pull the trigger. Even though Thomas was a peaceful guy, he wanted to hear the tremendous bang from a weapon as powerful as this.

"Aye, chap. You ever used a gun?" Thomas asked Nick as he stepped over a loose tree root.

"Once or twice," Nick replied. He lifted his weapon, a sturdy sledgehammer above his waist to examine it in the afternoon light. "I think my dad let me shoot his gun… you know. One of his theories was if he showed me the gun, I wouldn't feel the incentive to look at it anymore after that." Nick sighed slowly as he walked.

"Blimey," Thomas began. "I reckon this thing'd be able to blast a hole through even you, Nicholas!" Nick laughed, happy that Thomas was at ease in a situation as intense as this. Their friendship had spanned a decade, well, since Thomas' family had been deported from Great Britain to Canada. Though they were the best of friends, they were exact opposites.

Thomas was polite, small, and good with words and socializing, while Nick was blunt, though reserved, burly, strong, and good with fighting and sports. Neither of them really knew what made them such good friends… Thomas had always figured he had been so compelled to be friends with Nick because he was a completely different person from him; in short, Nick was something Thomas wasn't accustomed to. Therefore, Nick was interesting to him. That, and they got along great. Nick, on the other hand, admired Thomas for always staying carefree in the light of almost any situation. Nobody else Nick knew had the same positive attitude as Thomas, while nobody Thomas knew had the same potent level-headedness that Nick possessed.

"Say, chap?" Thomas said nervously.

"Yeah?"

"Do you… uh… do you think you could kill anyone? I mean, in self-defense, in a matter of speaking. Or… do you think if maybe you launched a preemptive first-strike? Do you think you could really bring yourself to…?" Thomas asked each question nervously, in a matter of 'I mean, if you wanted to.' Nick stopped walking, bowing his head to look at his toes in the ground. The ground beneath him was mossy, tangled with wet grass and roots. Thomas, too, stopped, apprehensively eyeing Nick from behind. The only sound in the air was the gentle flow of the nearby river. In the corner of Nick's eye, he could see the spastic flaying of a collection of water rushing through a small bundle of branches.

"I don't know, Thomas," Nick mumbled quietly as he continued to stare at the foliage beneath him. A large troupe of ants hard at work crawled past him, climbing amongst the branches and roots, carrying a large collection of leaves from a nearby tree. Nick watched as they walked determinedly past him, paying no heed to the giants above them. 'Weird,' Nick thought. 'Now that's what I call a metaphor.'

Raising his foot slowly, he stomped hard on one of the lagging ants. The others kept on walking, not even recognizing the fact that one of their comrades has perished. He smirked as he watched the tiny six-legged insects continue their crusade to return to their queen. "Well, I just killed that ant."

Thomas smirked and laughed as Nick turned around and smiled at him, though inside he felt uneasy. He had to, knowing that his friend had some doubts as to whether or not he was willing to end someone's life. Though, Thomas couldn't act down. That's still yet to come. Well, hopefully never to come.

"Right then, mate, let's go on," Thomas said as he stepped forward past Nick to keep moving.

They had now reached the outskirts of a residential area, up on a hill above them coming from the riverbank. Ahead, they could see a large bridge passing over the water from the residential area to an area they couldn't see from where they were. The bridge was large enough to span the length of the river, which at this point had become significantly wider, though it was small enough that if Thomas and Nick were to hide under it, they would be out of other student's view.

"We should hide under that bridge," Nick commented as he lifted his shoulder, pointing at the bridge ahead of them.

"Right," Thomas said as Nick once again took the lead. They continued walking closer to the bridge. As they did, the riverbank became remarkably steeper and the river ran remarkably more ferociously. Mist of water frothed and coated the two boys in a light layer of vapor as their shoes began to squish into moist mud. "Blimey!" Thomas said as he examined his black dress shoes. "'Brought these shoes thinkin' I bloody well won't be troddin' in the bloody mud!" Nick laughed again at Thomas' commentary upon their journey. 'Seriously,' Nick thought as he grinned, his black, short, curly hair laid about his head. 'You have to admire him. How can he stay so gentle?'

The two then reached the bridge, where at the base of the bridge's supports there was a concrete, square platform big enough for the two of them to lay out to rest. The river seared past them, now at a fearsome pace, fast enough for someone to get caught up in it and possibly drown.

"This is good," Nick said as he examined their new hideout. "Really good. Come on, Thomas."

Thomas nodded firmly and hopped up onto the platform, sprawling himself out on the concrete. "Finally, some rest," he noted as he laid onto his back, staring above them at the bridge. Small bird's nests were tucked into the railings of the bridge, peeking out over the world below them. As Thomas watched, several sparrows darted to and from the nests, feeding their chicks with worms and small insects.

"Think we're okay here, mate?" Thomas asked as he lent up, making his eyes round, boyish hazel eyes meet with Nick's steely, cold ice blue ones.

"Yeah," Nick said as he stared upward to watch the retreating sparrows fly throughout the afternoon air. "So long as we're together, I'm okay." Nick said as he again met eyes with Thomas, grinning.

"I'm glad you're my friend, mate," Thomas said nodding. "I really am." The two of them then both looked up at the sparrows. Nick then jumped up onto the concrete platform, letting his sledgehammer rest on the side. He then leant over the edge to rinse his hands with the rushing water. It was cold. His hand glistened with the beads of translucency as water ran down his wrist up the sleeves of his white T-shirt.

"Say, wanna try out this gun?" Thomas asked as he held his .357 magnum in the air. Nick grinned, and then retrieved the gun from Thomas. Spinning the gun in his hand on his pointer finger, he laughed and gave the gun back to Thomas.

"Now, dad's told me how to shoot a magnum," Thomas said as he opened the barrel of the gun. "I may not get this right, but let's hope, mate." Thomas loaded the six bullets he had, one by one into the barrel. Using two of his fingers to spin the barrel, he grinned and said to Nick, "You first or me?"

Nick grinned and replied with, "You, man. You loaded it." Thomas shrugged and nodded. Raising the gun to eye level, he aimed upward at one of the bird's nests.

BLAM! A rapturous bang echoed throughout the concrete structure as Thomas' finger recoiled and pulled the trigger. The birds' nest Thomas aimed for collapsed, exploding into a frenzy of mud and straw. Thomas managed to shoot the gun without it recoiling into his face by pulling back the hammer almost instantaneously.

The two of them guffawed heartily as the straw comically descended to the river in a back and forth motion. "Don't worry, mate," Thomas said as he slapped Nick on the back because he was laughing so much. "I made sure that nest was empty."

'Friendship, eh?' Nick thought as he looked up at the busy nests. 'I think I'm okay with that.'

'Why?'

Dante Zolianis sat on the grassy Earth with his face in his hands. After all the rage and unbridled fury, he had finally broken down, collapsing on the ground. Tears rolled down his face and down to his hands, in turn streaming down his wrists under the sleeves of his hooded zipper-sweater. The shirt he wore underneath, with a bright 'The Mars Volta' logo embroidered onto the front was soaked with his sweat, clinging to his body as he lay with his knees up on the ground.

The other three students, Ryan Dick, Ike Ferdez and Ruby Fetega all stood staring into the distance. None of them knew what they could say that could possibly help to raise Dante's spirits, if at all prevent him from being so emotionally unstable. They were all at a loss of what to say. After all, it wasn't exactly the easiest task in the world to attempt to condole someone who had just lost their entire family, including their mentor and of sorts, best friend. All they could do was wait and hope Dante would regain control of himself.

Even his best friend, Ike, couldn't think of anything to say that'd help Dante. He quivered nervously as he turned to watch his best friend in his misery. 'No. Misery would be putting it lightly,' Ike thought as he trembled, reminiscing the time where he, himself broke down knowing Dante's life was in danger. 'It's hell.' He resumed his stance in looking back down at the ground, desperately running scenarios through his head as to how Dante's family must've died. 'UGH!' He thought as he tried to shield the mental images from his head. Knowing what they did to Mr. Rogers… 'STOP!' He grabbed his head with both of his hands, wishing he could delicately grasp the bad images from the complex labyrinth of cells that were his brain and throwing them into oblivion.

Meanwhile, his other friend, Ryan Dick, stared sternly down at Dante. He shook his head, thinking, 'Why Dante?' He could only imagine what was going on in Dante's head. Then again, he had some complicated messages running through his head as well. 'War? Us against them? You said it best, Kevin.' Ryan looked down at the ground as he thought of Dante's older brother, not to mention idol. 'I never even met you, Kevin, but I could tell you were one helluva guy.' He shook his head again, once again thinking, 'Why him?'

Across from him was the girl of his dreams, Ruby. She felt tears of her own running down her cheeks as she stared straight down into the dry, earthen mosaic beneath her. It was rough to see the emotional impact all of this had had on Dante…. especially in such a short span. What should she do to comfort him? She knew Dante would be most willing to accept comfort from her… he did like her after all. But how would she do it? Once again, her and her two classmates were at a loss as to how to comfort their ailing friend.

Finally, as sudden as he had entered a state of rage before, he stood up suddenly. As he stood, he thrust his arms at his sides, wearing an expression of utmost loathing. Using his arm, he wiped the tears off of his face, sighed deeply and his expression reverted to being calm, though the three students could tell Dante was crushed inside. Though… Dante was acting odd…

"Listen, guys," Dante said as he slapped his hand to the side of his face, slowly dragging it down, an indication that he was tired. "I'm really not in the… well. It's not the right time to be bitching. You guys know that… I do… whatever."

He again sighed, looking to the sky, and as his head tilted, more tears streamed down his face. The three students watched in awe as Dante shook his head, again using his arm to wipe the tears off of his face.

"Dante," Ike spoke up, looking cautiously, though with a hint of an indication that he was making an attempt at rejuvenating the parties' spirits, "We know you're… down. That's putting it lightly."

"You fucking think? You fucking think, Ike?"

"Look, dude! I know what you're goi-"

"Don't fucking start! Don't you fucking start!"

"Look, Dante! Don't act like a dick, I'm just trying to-"

"Unf!" Ike fell to the ground, quickly getting up, cradling his jaw with the hand that wasn't supporting him. Dante's punch left Ike's jaw stinging, and as Ike lay on the ground, he saw Dante seething with fury, turned away from him. Though, he could see that the punch had hurt Dante as much as it had hurt him. His fist was bright red and Dante was flexing his fingers, as though this was some sort of detox for the tremendous pain running through his knuckles.

"You ass," Ike said as he got up, throwing a punch of his own at Dante. Dante turned quickly, only to meet a barrage of knuckles from Ike. He fell to the ground as well, holding his eye.

Dante said nothing as he got up, throwing another punch at Ike. The two quickly began to engage in a petty sparring match, trading blows as either strived not to win the fight, but primarily to, through means of a physical barrage, prove themselves that they were right. Neither student watching this tried to break it up; instead, they were both smart enough to let them go through with it. They were friends, after all. Sooner or later they'd forgive each other… or would they.

Finally, Ike threw a vicious uppercut, clocking Dante in the bottom jaw. The teeth in the top row of his mouth in his reflex thrust into his tongue, as he yelped, cupping his hand to his mouth. Ike staggered back, panting, with a look of utmost hatred, glaring at Dante. As Ike watched him, he writhed on the ground, screaming from beneath his mouth as blood seeped through the cracks from between his fingers, coating the rest of his hand with crimson. Ruby gasped in horror as Dante fell face first on the ground, his knees on the ground, lifting up so that Dante's hands and face were sprawled out amongst the grass on the earth's floor. His feet kicked and scraped on the ground, and as she watched, Dante released the grip on his mouth, instead clutching his hair. Pulling it either way in the midst of his bestial rage, he still had enough sense in him not to pull it all the way out. 'After all,' a small portion in the back of his mind, abandoned by the throbbing rages of cerebella, commented, 'We've still got our image to think about.'

Dante leant up, his teeth bared. Ruby again gasped, along with Ryan, as they watched a continuous torrent of blood stream out of Dante's mouth as he opened it, spitting it amongst the Earth's floor. Ike, too, recoiled in disgust, with a tinge of regret as he watched Dante growl at him.

Amidst the mass of scarlet coursing within his mouth, Dante managed to spit out, "I can't believe this. You're against me, too, I presume?" He said as he nodded toward Ruby and Ryan.

"It's nothing like that, Dante!" Ike retorted as Ryan and Ruby knit their brows, the either one of them thinking, 'That was unfair.'

"Shut… the f—uck up…" As he pronounced the 'f', the wind from his throat required to utter the consonant sprayed blood through his front teeth. He staggered backward, that small amount of sane brain left in him still thinking about how bodily fluids decked amongst clothing could look rather humiliating, not to mention disgusting. The other three cringed as Dante stared at them with eyes of pure malevolence… Hatred nothing Dante had ever known surged through him, blinding him almost.

"Dante… I can't tell you how much I'm sorry." Ike now longed for Dante to return to regular Dante before something terrible happened.

"Ike, I have to say the same for you… sorry for my brother dying… was that a reason to hit me like you did?" More blood, as Dante opened his mouth completely. Ike caught a glimpse of his tongue, immersed in a sea of blood, though still managing to poke out amongst the mass of crimson.

"You threw the first punch!" Ike threw out his arms as though to say, 'How can you be so unreasonable?'

"You're a jerk…" Dante sputtered. "All of you are." Again, Rubyf and Ryan recoiled with expressions indicating the unfair treatment they were receiving from Dante.

"Come on, guys… back me up on this…" As soon as the last word rolled off of his tongue, Ike realized what he had said.

"I'm sure they'd be glad…" Dante, this time, turned around. All three were at a loss of what to say. Dante started walking, not looking back. Every once in a while, he would spit disgusting amounts of blood onto the ground, the bleeding in his tongue not relenting in the least. Just as he was about to leave their sight, walking into the distant grass lands, he called back. "Power of friendship, eh? Seems like a sham to me!"

"There's nothing we can do to stop him," Ryan finally said.

"Thanks for your input, Ryan, really," Ike growled as he glared at the two of Ryan and Ruby. "Wait… I don't want to pull another Dante… sorry."

"It's alright, Ike…" Ruby reached out and put her hand on Ike's shoulder, as Ike trembled.

"I hit him too hard…" Ike groaned as he put his face in his hands, then a short moment later dragging them backward along his scalp, his hair then flopping out amongst the rest of his head. "Way… too hard."

Ike sat down on the ground as Ryan and Ruby watched him. Ike's insides were nonexistent. He felt hollow as he thought of Dante…

"Dante!" He yelled, quickly standing up.

…

No response.

"Dante!" He yelled again, a few tears rolling down his face.

Still no response.

"DAAAAANTE!"

41 STUDENTS REMAINING


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Shuffling his feet slowly as though he were swaying between the nether that was the barrier between life and death, the boy growled, rotating his head slowly, letting his eyes close themselves as the rest of his body continued it's melancholy, mechanical motion. He was heading south, as far away as he could from the people who so blatantly betrayed him… After what they did to him? What the fuck? That's totally not fair, what they did to you…

"You don't think I know?" He groaned slowly, his throat dry… Hey, weird. It's that feeling you had back in the classroom again… That feeling you get when you feel ganged up on? You know, that pain in your throat. That happened when you and the rest of those kids were in the class waiting for that evil man to dish out those instructions of his.

"I hate that feeling," the boy said, again in his tone of boredom. "Reminds me of times I hate, too." Now, you see, that's putting it lightly. Times you hate? More like, times you _loathe, despise, detest_. No one has ever really treated you with respect. Not the respect you deserve, anyway. I mean, for instance, what happened back there? They basically insulted you. Your whole family gets decimated, and then your 'best friend,' uppercuts you in the jaw? You've got blood all over the front of your shirt from that? Gonna let that slide? Gonna let someone walk all over you again?

"Probably," he said. His eyes were fully closed as his feet shuffled along the ground, trudging across the dry dirt, kicking swarms of dust into the air, sending them flying into his blank face. Geez, you're a real mess, eh? Look at you. Blood, dust, dirt, sweat, tears… Not to mention that bullet in your back. You're having a rough time out here… I mean, considering everyone else is in the same situation you are, you're getting it a lot worse than they are.

"Thanks… Captain Obvious…" He raised his hand, leveling it with his chin. He slowly brought it forward, rubbing it. The dried blood was sticky and pasty, making him cringe in disgust as he felt his dried bodily juices.

"I wanna go home…" Shut up, asshole. Don't be so fucking selfish. You don't think you're the only one out here? There are already people dead, idiot. People who deserved to live more than you do. I mean, come on. You're an immature, pathetic wanker. Quit bitching about your friends. You don't think you got what you deserved? All Ike tried to do was help and you pushed him away. Your own best friend, kiddo. He was concerned. Oh, I get it. Big Mr. All-Important can't stand someone trying to hold his hand? Seriously. You're so self-absorbed it's almost disgusting. I'm gonna fucking puke! Augh! Asshole. Clean up your act.

He blinked. Suddenly, everything changed.

"Where am I?" He asked.

"Where do you think?" A familiar voice asked, in a somewhat familiar tone.

"What… is it…?"

"Yes, it is."

"But… you…?"

"You're dreaming, idiot! Jesus. I know I'm dead. You do too! They weren't kidding. Sorry. I guess I didn't wanna get your hopes up. I'm so dead it's not even funny. Done like dinner."

"How… how can you talk like this?"

"Don't worry about it, buddy. Remember what I said? I have faith in you. Think of this as a slap in the face for being such an insensitive douche."

"Ike was being an asshole!"

"Why, because he said, 'I know you're down, and that's putting it lightly,'? And then you got mad? That's bullshit! Seriously. Really, I mean, come on. GAH! You make me so angry sometimes! He was _just, trying, to HELP you._"

"…"

"Yeah, that's right. You know I'm right but you're just a stubborn dick. How 'bout a flashback? Maybe not a flashback of sorts. Maybe a… what if? How's that sound? I looooove flashbacks. Or should I say, what if's! Aw, fuck it, I'm not even making sense anymore."

"Guk!" In a mere second, he felt the intense roar of wind rushing through his ears, and the gut-wrenching feeling of being yanked upward. Suddenly, everything around him came into focus. He was… in his bed? No way! That was all a dream? Wow. I can't wait to tell Ike about this. Hahaha, oh my god. Wow. Hahahah. Best. Dream. Ever. Wow. Rubbing his eyes slightly to get the brittle 'morning crust,' as he called it out of the crevice made in the little fleshy section between his skin and his eyeball, he sighed, laughing slightly. _Boy, it's good to have crust._

Realizing he was sitting up, not leaning back against his pillow, he smiled a toothy grin, laying back down onto his pillow. His room… ah… The wooden roof above him, tiled and laid out like that of a cabin, shone in the fierce sunlight reflecting off of his deskside mirror. Looking into it, he saw his own face. _Whoa! Weird. I haven't seen my face in forever. Er…_

The four walls, each laid out with the same wooden tiles lay submerged in darkness, deprived of the morning sunshine his mirror so generously distributed to the ever-so-beautiful looking ceiling of his. His possessions and posters laid decked out amongst the walls, displaying his favorite bands and movies. He really loved his room. Need a place to chill out for a while? Room. Need a place to… uhm… relax for a while… Room.

For some reason, Dante was more excited than he had been in a long time. Being the sullen teenager he usually is, (hey, what can he do? He's a 14 year old in high school. Typical.) times where he looked forward to something were few and far between. Today… was…

THE FIELD TRIP! YES! The field trip the whole class had been looking forward to since, well, god knows when! The field trip him and Ike had planned out as being a, uhm, really fun time. And stuff. He was so excited he couldn't even think straight. Hey, maybe he'll get to see Ruby there… Maybe they could hang out? That'd be alright with him. Suddenly, he realized a detail which made his heart freeze. Looking over slowly to the other side of his bed opposite from his mirror was now fogged up thanks to his exciting breathing, providing a rather odd display of chameleon-like light on the wall, he cautiously reached his hand over to the rectangular ebony object which could spell his doom. Slowly grasping it's surface, he turned it around slowly…

FUCK! It's 7:45! I've got 15 minutes to get ready! Gruagh!

Thrashing around like a human tornado, the boy's hair flew about wildly as he desperately made an attempt at trying to do everything to get himself ready at once. Dashing into the bathroom just down the hall and to the left, he tore at his shirt, trying to free the top half of his body from its grasp. His bare feet slipping on the cold floor of the bathroom, he tore his shirt in two, quickly realizing his own idiocy. Slamming his head into the wall, like he always did when he hated himself, he blinked, trying to gain focus.

"Maybe a little too hard this time," He thought.

Fifteen minutes later, he made his way out of the bathroom after preparing himself for the school day. At the top of the stairs, he made his call, "KEVIN!" Quickly retreating to his room, he literally flew into his clothes, a red 'The Mars Volta' t-shirt with a black zipper hoody overtop with a pair of blue jeans. Turning around to get back to the top of the stairs, he saw his older brother, Kevin, at the foot of the stairs, holding a half-eaten piece of toast with some butter on it in his hand, still in his pajamas. His hair, although shorter than his brother's, was curly and unruly like his younger brother's. It was tossed about erratically atop his head, in the same auburn color his brother's hair possessed. His eyes were groggy and had bags underneath them, thanks to his continuous traveling throughout the world. What did he do, anyway? Though he was four years older than his younger brother, he looked quite similar to him, from everything to his hair to his mouth.

"Whaaaaaat?" He drawled, only to reveal the disgusting, breakfast-ridden, inappropriate chasm which was his mouth. His little brother cringed, sticking his tongue out.

"You're gross," he said, sliding his hands along the stair rails, kicking at the steps as though attempting to launch himself down the stairs.

"That's all you have to say?" Kevin said, stepping aside to let his brother land on the ground.

"AGH!" His brother shrieked as his arms gave way amongst the slippery rails, letting the top half of his body go careening into the ground. SLAM! His body crashed into the wooden floor of the lobby as his brother laughed at his stupidy.

"You're such a spazz," he said, taking another wholesome bite out of his toast. "Your field trip is today. Hurry up and leave."

"Oh my god, you're right." The boy said as he pushed his arms forward, using them as leverage as a means of hoisting himself up. "I'm leaving, like, right now." Punching his brother in the chest, he ran towards the front door to retrieve his shoes and in turn, leave.

"When you get back?" His brother asked, taking the final bite out of his toast, clapping his hands together as a means of getting the remnants of the crumbs off of his fingers.

"They didn't say," the boy said. "They've been pretty vague about this whole thing."

"Weird," his brother said. "Well, I'm not gonna keep you. Say goodbye to mom and dad."

"MOOOOM! DADDDD! BYE!" He shrieked as he put on his left shoe. Quickly tying it up, he stood up, retrieved his bag of supplies for the field trip as well as his backpack, and opened the door. "Later, Kevin."

"See you later, bro." Kevin turned back towards the kitchen. More toast!

The boy ran down the street, knowing he was obscenely late for school. 'Mr. Rogers is gonna eat my brain.'

Several minutes later he arrived at school, his prediction proving accurate. Fifteen minutes late!

Entering the school in a hurry, he hoisted his backpack further up on his back, scratching his nose with the hand that wasn't occupied with holding his supply bag for the field trip. Slamming through the front door, he suddenly realized he came about a half-second away from sending the principal into another dimension.

"Slow down, Zolianis! And you're late!" He called as the boy continued running throughout the cafeteria, turning left.

"Sorry!" The boy called back as he dashed across another hallway, spotting his locker at the end of the hall. Seeing a bunch of twelfth-graders, he tried to position himself to be able to dodge them. Their leader, Greg, laughed as the boy approached. The two had had an altercation earlier in the year resulting in him getting beaten up by Greg. The boy scowled and stopped running, trying to pretend as though Greg weren't there.

"Hey, pussy boy," Greg sneered, his posse behind him cackling like hyenas as Greg fondled the toothpick in his mouth with his tongue.

"Oh, hey there," The boy quickly turned around, a gleeful expression on his face. 'Sarcasm overdrive, on!' He thought, laughing in his head at his own blatant cheesiness. "How are you boys today? Loud, rude, obnoxious and disliked by the vast majority of the school who can't stand up to you in the first place as usual?"

"Yeah, we're like that. We're fit for an asskicking, too." Greg laughed at his own joke, his posse quickly following in his stead, all nodding at each other, laughing.

"Well, I'd say right now you'd look fit for an ass_pounding,_" The boy said. This retort quickly stopped the posse's laughing as Greg frowned at him. "Now fuck off. I don't have time for your shit."

"Like last time, faggot? Like last time? When I kicked your fucking ass?" Greg glared at him, not even stopping to accept the numerous high-fives he would've received from his cronies.

"Uhm, no. I had time for your shit last time, that's why I started making fun of you. I'll get you back eventually, just not now. Until then, happy trails!" He quickly dashed off down the hallway to his locker, laughing as he realized how stupid Greg and his friends were.

"Pussy!" They called down the hallway as they watched the boy make a beeline toward his locker.

Several minutes later, he finally arrived at class, met by the tumultuous roar of his teacher, Mr. Boyd Rogers. "ZOLIANIS! LATE FOR MY CLASS, AGAIN!" As he roared, he could hear the fellow students in his class snickering and sharing sly remarks with each other, glancing his way occasionally.

"Yes, sir, I, uh, uhm, er. Yeah. I had, uh, a case of the, uhm, er, eh, uhm, er—You know what? I'm not even going to try. I slept in, OK?" The boy shrugged his shoulders, putting on a comical smirk as the class laughed at his remark.

"Okay. Okay, sure," Mr. Rogers, too, shrugged, putting on the same grin the boy just did. The boy lowered his arms, grinning widely, thinking 'Hey, I got off this time! Must be because it's the field trip today.' Nodding, he began to walk to his seat.

Suddenly, an ear shattering roar seemed to paralyze his every movement, not to mention his thoughts. "DETENTION! COME LATE FOR MY CLASS EVER AGAIN, BOY, OR SO HELP ME I WILL HAVE YOU SUSPENDED! TAKE A SEAT AND IF I HEAR A WORD OUT OF YOU, SO HELP ME I WILL HAVE YOU SUSPENDED!" Veins in the old mans head throbbed like convulsing pythons as his eyebrows arched into a V fit for an over-exaggerated Japanese cartoon villain.

"But, Mr. Rogers, you don't have to say it twice," even the boy couldn't help laughing at his witty retort as he tried his best to not make a bigger scar on his school profile as he already had. 'That's the last one,' he thought.

"Just… sit." The boy didn't need telling twice. Immediately darting to his seat, he quickly scanned the class looking for what could brighten a day looking to be as odd as this one. 'Is she here?' As he craned his neck to look behind him, his gaze met that of the most treasured person he knew of on this Earth. Ruby… She smiled at him, causing him to turn beat red. Quickly realizing he was embarrassing himself, he quickly used his trademark 'lay-off-the-heat' move as he called it. Putting his hand behind his head, he ruffled his long hair, shaking it in front of his eyes, trying to hid his red face. He quickly found his best friend, Ike, and he sat down beside him. The two exchanged glances as Ike grinned oddly at him, a sign of 'you're a total idiot.' He nodded and shrugged slightly as if to reply, 'I know, I know.'

The class went on normally, like any other day; the boy eventually falling asleep, him getting yelled at, then him and Ike exiting the class laughing heartily at the generic school outcast or reject.

"Let me get my bag for the field trip," Ike said, quickly turning around to run to his locker.

"Yeah, right. Field trip. I'll go grab mine," the boy replied, shaking his long hair as he began to hop down the stairs to the lower level two at a time.

The trip to his locker and back to the bus went by without incident, and Dante quickly sat down onto a seat next to Ike, across the isle from some good friends of his, Justin Lutley and Cedric Rodriguez.

The trip ensued with nothing particularly interesting occurring, aside from a verbal sparring match between Sid Algar and Jesmund Bosworth, quickly broken up by Nicole Zimmel, Jesmund's loyal girlfriend. Aside from that, Class 1A of Cochrane High School was peaceful…

"So, who do you think is gonna win the Battle Royale?" Ike suddenly looked up at the boy with a casual expression on his face, speaking in an equally carefree tone.

"What? What are you talking about?" The boy frowned at Ike, quickly turning back to scrape his fingernails against the back of the seat in front of him, peeling away at a patch in the seat.

"The Battle Royale! That's the field trip," Ike said. "You didn't know? Wow. You're reeeeeal behind."

"Are you kidding? Ike, that's not even funny. People die in that thing," the boy replied, this time not even averting his gaze from the small patch.

"Well, yeah. That's the idea. I don't really care though. This'll be fun! Who knows, maybe I'll end up killing you!"

The boy's hand froze as he picked at the seat, leaving him to stare forward with thoughts of utmost disgust running through his head. "That is not even funny," He said, turning to look at Ike, glaring at him. "Stop being a dick."

Ike frowned at him. "Come on, man. You can't tell me you didn't know about this. The whole class did! Hell, I think you're going to die first. Everyone's out for you."

"Are you fucking kidding me? Why won't you stop? Jesus, fuck off. I'm going to sleep. Don't bother talking to me." The boy turned to rest his head against the window, trying to close his eyes. 'How could Ike say that? Jesus, a joke is only funny for so long. Why would people be out to get me, first, anyway? Wait, what the fuck! I know this isn't real. Why am I thinking like this?'

"You're serious eh. Well, whatever. You can't tell me why you don't think people are gonna be out to get you in this game?"

"No. Why?"

"Because you're a self-absorbed, conceited bastard. Hell, that display you put on in class today was so old and rehashed I felt like I was going back to the days where I had my afro and my flannel jeans. Ah, yes. Earth, Wind, and Fire."

"Shut up! Shut up! Seriously, you're so not funny! I would've laughed at that had you not been such a dick this whole—UGH! SHUT UP!"

At this point, a large portion of the students on the bus turned to face the boy, frowning at him oddly, some of them sharing comments upon his odd behavior.

I"What? WHAT THE FUCK!" The boy stood up this time, shouting, and at this point everyone on the bus had turned to stare at them. "WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH ALL OF YOU! THIS ISN'T SERIOUS! THE JOKE STOPPED BEING FUNNY!"

The class continued staring at him, blank expressions on some, judgmental on others and on some, expressions of fully natural, untouched detest. Ike looked up at him, frowning. "WHAT!" Dante shouted at Ike, spit actually flying from the chasms in his gums into Ike's face.

"Sit down. People are trying to sleep." Ike said, changing his tone back to the casual tone he had taken up earlier.

"NO! NO! NO! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! THE PROGRAM? BATTLE ROYALE!" As the boy screamed, the bus driver could be seen stepping on the brake, pulling over at what seemed to be a school built in a similar manner to Cochrane High's façade.

'There is no way this is happening,' the boy thought as he clapped his hands up against his ears, gritting his teeth and growling. 'How can they be so laid back? What the fuck, honestly! I don't even know where I am, how I got here, why. I honestly can't believe this is happening.'

"Alright kids, we've gotta make a quick stop. Time to pick up some guests." The bus driver beckoned to a person outside in a strange gesture the boy had never actually seen before. The person stepped slowly inside to the building. As the boy watched, he couldn't' help but feel hopelessly overpowered. Sitting down, he brought his knees up to his chest, resting his forehead upon them. Closing his eyes and clapping his hands on his ears, he began to rock slowly back and forth almost inherently, as though he really was going crazy.

'This was supposed to be a normal day! School! Not fucking… MASSACRE! WHAT THE FUCK! KEVIN? MOM? DAD?' As the boy sat, he didn't realize the upper row of his teeth was digging into his bottom lip viciously, creating numerous evenly spaced perforations, giving way to small flows of blood.

The rest of the students turned to face forward, staring in a melancholy manner at the front of the bus as the driver stepped back onto the bus, now sporting a face-mask resembling that of an octopus; two rubber hoses extended from slots in the mask to a strange apparatus on his back. As he walked on, several people clad in black and red uniforms, the Coalition's theme stepped onto the bus. Each of them toted a large submachine gun, with an ebony belt fastened around the waist. Several spherical, also ebony objects were hitched at even spaces among their belts, and they too had the same facemask as the bus driver on. Realizing a commotion, the boy slowly looked up to pinpoint the source. At this point, all agents, seven in total, had stepped onto the bus, all of them staring down the row of the bus, examining the students. The bus driver sat down into the driver's seat, slowly putting the bus into gear and driving off. No student made a single noise. As the boy looked, anger filled his body. 'How can they fucking sit there?' Small trickles of blood oozed down his chin, the viscous substance making it look as though the boy were some sort of sadistic cannibal. At this point, however, his thoughts could've easily matched the expression of malice on his face. 'I'll fucking kill them. I'll fucking kill those… THOSE BASTARDS!'

Suddenly, the very soul of malice which had possessed the boy unleashed its anger, almost carrying him to soar at the front of the guards' brigade, his fist flying behind his right shoulder, quickly smashing into the front mask of the guards. The fist collided so hard with the agent that the mask he wore shattered into several shards of some odd substance, which upon contact with the ground immediately dissolved. The boy didn't even have time to address the presence of the odd dissolved substance which had once been a protective barrier, sending another fist crashing into the agent's unguarded face. However… his mask had come back? As the boy hit him, he felt hard, cold material once again, and again the same shards flew to the ground immediately dissolving into a strange, gummy substance. At this, the guard retaliated, raising the butt of his submachine gun, sending it crashing into the bridge of the boy's nose. A sickening noise, resembling a submerged crack sounded loudly throughout the bus as blood flowed as freely as ever from the boy's nose. Screaming in pain, the boy reeled backward, falling into an unoccupied seat. As he made his attempt at waging his one-man war, he saw that no one else in the entire bus had sided with him at his defense, all of them instead cheering on the agents.

'What? Oh, no.' That same feeling… the feeling of oppression throbbed in the boy's throat. 'Not this time,' he thought, slowly standing up as blood ran continuously down the front of his face, dripping horribly onto the bus' metallic floor below him and onto his hood. At this point, the cannibalistic look on his face had now expanded into a look of ungodliness, a savage nature. Seething furiciously, the boy again jumped forward at the first guard, this time, not making an attempt at hitting him, but instead making an attempt at taking off the mask of his… So he could show him justice. Growling as he leaped forward, the boy placed his thumbs on the visor, clasping the rest of his fingers around the guards head. As though the guard were mocking him, he didn't make an attempt at fighting back, simply standing as the boy made an attempt at breaking his visor with just his thumbs. Meanwhile, the boy cried out, using all of his force and rage in an attempt at breaking the visor, tears seeping from out of his eyes, streaming down his face and mixing with the crimson mess that was the lower half of his face. Suddenly, he had a startling revelation. 'Take the mask off!' Considering the rest of his mind ran rabid with thoughts of destruction, of torture and of unbridled loathing, anyone else would've found it impossible that a thought as sane as this managed to run across his brain loud and clear.

Averting the physical tension from pressure to lifting upward, the guard realized what the boy was trying to do. In a flash of ebony and flesh, he brought the butt of the gun into the elbow of the boy, making another dull crack, which echoed throughout the bus. As the students of the bus cheered, the boy was sent reeling to the ground, screaming, his arm looking as though it had been placed on backward, his forearm, instead of being bent inward, was outward, his fingers and the entire hand convulsing as the nerves in that arm pulsated violently.

Feeling consciousness fading from him, the boy tried his utmost to stand up. However… a loud barrage of gunfire rattled his eardrums, sending him to the ground, shielding his head with his good hand, almost instinctively. As the bus settled to a stop, for at least 30 seconds, from all seven agents, all the boy could hear was repetitive gunfire, with a couple screams, shatters of glass, and the sound of bullets colliding with the metallic roof, walls, and floor of the bus. After the gunfire ceased, the boy slowly raised his head, as much as he had still struggled with remaining conscious. His eyes met with the concealed eyes of the agent, and the boy, still amidst all his rage, saw that the agent was looking down on him with a sense of pity. Yet… the agent chose not to end the boy's life. As the boy slowly stood up, the agents all clambered off of the bus, save the one agent whom the boy had battle so fiercely. As the boy looked around the bus, the bullet ridden corpses of all of his classmates lay in the seats, dead, each and every one of them coated with their own respective layer of crimson. Looking to where his best friend was, the boy saw nothing but the body of Ike. The head had been blasted apart, only a small chunk of it remaining atop his neck. As he looked beyond this horror, he saw the chips of his skull among the back of the bus, assuming those were even his. Trying to find the girl he loved so dearly, she, too, had been shot to near-non-existence. One of her arms had nearly dissolved against the tremendous gunfire, leaving way to nothing but a bloody stump. The more the boy tried to find people who could still be alive, the more horror was laid out amongst his eyes. 'Ryan?' Dead, among the wall of the back of the bus. Literally. 'Cedric?' Dead, a single bullet hole in the center of his forehead. 'Erin?' Dead, at least six bullet holes scattered amongst her front. 'Anyone?' Dead. In some way, shape, or form, anyone the boy had known for a large portion of his life, anyone who he had been acquainted with in any way, anyone who had basically been the basis of his existence, anyone, was dead.

What could he do?

Nothing.

The boy merely stood there, thoughts not even running through his head. All there was was a big, vague, empty space. Every memory he had ever had, every friend, enemy, gone. What left was there?

Meanwhile, the agent who had stood there in pity continued to watch the boy, though little did the boy know, behind the concealed visor of the agent were tears. The agent too felt remorse. Was it because he had taken part in a 47-student massacre which lasted under 30 seconds? Or was it because…

Slowly taking off his mask, unbeknownst to the boy, the agent stood, his curly auburn hair tossed about his frame.

"Dante…" Kevin Zolianis said as he dropped his submachine gun to the ground. The boy, in a mere trance of sorts, didn't respond, still staring blankly forward. The flow of blood from his nostrils had slowed to a mere ooze, while his arm was still slung about crookedly. "Dante, listen…" Tears flowed freely from Kevin's face as the boy still stood staring ahead. "Dante… you have to listen to me." At this, the boy turned slowly toward his older brother, his eyes drooping as he saw that his hearing had indeed not been impaired. He could've sworn that had sounded like Kevin, the one person who could make some sort of a successful attempt at comforting him, the one person he could count on in times like this. Not that having every friend you've ever had massacred is a daily occurrence.

"Why…?" Was the only word that ran through the boy's head.

"Listen… I… I can't even begin to explain." Kevin sobbed as he saw the expression on his younger brother, his disciple in sort's face. "I know this looks weird, but my beliefs have changed, Dante. I know we've always wanted a collective society, some place where cohesion would actually exist. But… you have to realize, we can't make any attempt at that by simply fighting back… We have to become them. That's why I've joined up… does this make sense, Dante?"

"Fuck you." The boy said, a slight twinge of the malice he had experienced earlier returning to him as his fists clenched.

"Don't. Honestly. This IS in fact, the only way."

"Then what did you mean by the letter you sent me?"

"What? What letter?"

"I had a dream, where you said I had to fight back."

"That… huh? How?"

"The bastards killed you in my dream, Kevin. You were dead."

"What? No. Listen, it was just a dream."

"It was real. It felt real, Kevin. You had died in that dream. I was terrified that you had left so abruptly, but now you've left me here too. You traitor. You fucking turncoat. So what, that letter must've been just out of panic, telling me to fight back only 'cause you realized, 'Hey! I'm about to get killed!' That was it, huh? That was it?"

"No, listen…"

"I'm not going to fucking listen anymore. I'm going to take a stand. You're gonna get out of my way too, you prick. Some brother you are. All those things you told me, all gone to waste just like that?"

"It's not like that, Dante."

"Oh, yes, yes it is. Yes. Move."

Trying to exit the bus, the boy made an attempt at shoving his brother aside. Though, his brother stood tall, not allowing him to pass.

"Move, you fuck!"

"You'll die out there."

"I'll die in here."

"I'll leave you here."

"Hah, typical you. Leaving me to suffer, eh?"

"…"

"That's what I thought. Now, move." Again, the boy tried to shoulder his way past his brother. However, Kevin's SCUDS, Standard Coalition Unit of Defense Suit, shoved the boy off as easily as it could've. Being bumped back, the boy tried again to shoulder his way past. Simply by standing there, Kevin managed to repel the boy away.

"Move." The boy said, this time extending his good arm to push him.

"I want to talk things over." Kevin said. At this, he reached down to pick up the submachine gun. His eyes, still glossy and stained with tears, stared at his brother's as he raised the gun to his eye, pointing it in between the boy's own two eyes.

"You wouldn't do that," the boy said, growling.

"Yes I would. Sit."

"No."

"Don't make me do it, Dante."

"Go ahead and do it, traitor."

"…"

"Do it!"

"…"

"Do it! Now!"

"…"

"NOW!"

BLAM!

* * *

Dante Zolianis, Boy Number Five, woke up from his dream, his face embedded in the dirt, the rest of his body laying still, hands at his sides, legs extended outward. His blank face laid against the rough dirt, the Earth's crumbs digging into his face as he pressed it into the ground. His eyes opening, all he saw was a mosaic of all sorts of brown. 

"It was a dream." He said, beginning to extend his elbows at his sides to push himself up. Quickly glancing at his left elbow, he saw that it had indeed been a dream. 'No need to pinch myself.'

Pushing himself up, Dante brought himself to his feet, brushing the dirt off of his legs, yawning. Feeling the dried blood from his wound on his chin, he sighed as he realized the horror he was in. The Coalition on top of his every move, his best friend at odds with him, and his brother in… His brother. The bastard. Coalition fucking bastard. What a traitor. Goddamn him. DAMN HIM!

His fists once again clenching themselves into fists, Dante felt his fingernails digging into his palms. Gritting his teeth, he shook his head, as though in an attempt to flush the thoughts of his brother out of his head. Though, what Dante didn't realize was that it was just indeed a dream. But…it seemed so real.

"So, you said it was a war against them, huh, Kev?" He said as he walked slowly to a small puddle of water. Bending over to look into it, Dante saw his own face, the blood of his covering the entire lower half of his face. "Maybe it is. But you're a part of it, so it's as much a war against them as it was against you, Kev." Looking into the water, he raised the one fist he had used to hold himself up as he kneeled to smash it into the puddle, watching the ripples at first violently sway amongst the aquatic breedling, then watching them slowly descend to slower heights and finally cease. Cupping his hands in the water, he brought the cool liquid to his face, trying to wash off the blood.

"Though… I can't help but feel I still love you, Kev. Maybe it's just because you're my brother, I don't know. But… I miss you." Tears rolled down Dante's cheeks for only the umpteenth time this game as he leant backward onto his knees.

"Ike!" Realizing his best friend was no doubt waiting for Dante's return, 'Hey, I doubt he was, I was being a real asshole,' Dante immediately began to sprint towards the direction he thought he had come from. "I really hope I'm going the right way."

As he ran, his thoughts were, 'It is a war against them, Kevin. And I'm going to take up the fight in it, as much as you were a part of it, the other 99 percent of it was wrong… Though… why? Why, Kevin? And… time to find Ike.

'Maybe this is the beginning of a war?'

41 STUDENTS REMAINING


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

3:00 PM- 4:00 PM

The sun had now placed itself on a plane at an 80 degree angle with the Earth, its violently bright, yet warm, serene rays highlighting the magnificent features of its distant solar cousin. The heat caused by the terrific afternoon conditions could be seen dancing amongst the charcoal streets of the lonely island community, the repetitive barrage of ocean waves smashing against the rocky shore cycling in the background as if it were a broken record.

The idle footsteps of Dante Zolianis, Boy Number Five had slowed from the pitter-patter of a sprint to the half-hearted shuffle which he had taken up earlier in his state of depression.

The only thought that ran through his mind, as though it, too was on a broken record was that of his best friend, Ike Ferdez and his safety. 'Ike…!'

His chest heaved as he walked, his eyes set on the path from which he had came. His fists were clenched as though to repel any sort of surprise attack, though one thing that Dante hadn't counted on was the lack of his own weapon. After his storming out on his friends, he had completely forgotten to take his weapon, a spear, with him. All he could do was hope that he didn't run into anyone hostile, at least, until he had returned to Ike and the others.

Feeling rejuvenated enough to run again, Dante burst into a sprint, wondering, 'I can't be that far, can I?'

As he ran, new thoughts began to spawn in his head, thoughts of what exactly the reception by his friends may be… will they be accepting him, or will they push him away? He wasn't exactly friendly with Ike at the moment, considering they had both exchanged harsh words and Ike had clocked Dante in the jaw with an uppercut hard enough to cut open a fair amount of Dante's tongue, enough to make blood spill out of it for the next hour. At the moment, the gash had stopped bleeding, though massive trails of blood ran down Dante's chin, tainting his teeth with crimson, along with numerous spots among his clothes. Dante had up until this moment naturally assumed his friends would be waiting for him with open arms, but his reaching a state of leveling out after his outburst had caused him to think twice. After all, on top of quarrelling with Ike, he had spat accusations at his other two friends, Ryan and Ruby as well. How would Ruby feel about all this? Amidst all his attempts to impress the one he loved, he goes and pulls something like that? Dante felt as though an invisible fist clenched his intestines. Just the thought of Ruby rejecting him was enough to send his organs into a riot of nervousness and fear. After all, as the one who Dante had basically devoted the large portion of his life to, she basically was Dante's emotional puppeteer. If ever a day went by where Dante hadn't felt he had made a good impression on Ruby, he could never get the situation out of his head, and if ever a day went by where Ruby had been absent from school, hence Dante not seeing her, he would ponder for hours as to where Ruby would be and why she would not be at school, waiting for Dante's pathetic, though numerous attempts to impress her. Even at this moment, as he had finally calmed down, all he could think about were his friends.

And what about Ryan? The gentle tough guy, nice enough to make attempts at comforting even his most scorned of enemies when they were in fits of depression, though still rough enough to fight back for the ones he loved. Quite the contradiction, though, Dante used to think. 'What if the same enemy whom he had tried to comfort started to, uh, shoot everyone? What then, huh?' He had, after all, watched with pity at Dante as he laid on the ground in fits of sobbing after receiving news of his family's massacre. And, after that, he had stood with an expression of disappointment on his face at Dante's crude outburst toward his friends…

As much as Dante hated to think about it, they weren't going to accept him back… He had hurt feelings, and he knew it. It's not exactly a cakewalk trying to convince people you meant no harm after you threw a cheap shot at your best friend, let alone making an attempt at claiming you were still sane after cycling through four dissimilar emotions in a mere matter of minutes. Anger, sadness, determination, and madness, all in enough time for Dante to think, 'Why?'

With the thought of rejection settling into Dante's mind once more, he slowed his sprint into a walk, again taking up the incessant shuffling which he had now nearly perfected. His head hung low, Dante thought to himself, 'Where else can I go? What else is there to do? I've… I've tried nearl-'

The earsplitting roar of a gunshot blasted Dante's eardrums, as he felt a miniature gust of air twirl around his right foot. The hair on the back of his neck sticking out far enough that it felt as though it were fall off, Dante jumped what felt like twelve feet into the air, wondering if he had left his insides behind on the way up. 'Never,' Dante thought, 'Have I been that terrified in a mere matter of milliseconds.'

Dante frantically looked around for the source of the hostility, his eyes wide and his ears sensing almost any source of noise. Nothing stuck out, that's fo—

BLAM! Another thunderous roar ripped throughout the once tranquil field Dante was in as he saw the ground in front of him burst with the impact of a bullet. Again, Dante searched for the source of the long-range barrage he had now fallen siege to.

BLAM! At this point, Dante didn't even bother to think it over. Hearing the hair on his head shuffle past his ear was enough for him to realize he was in grave danger. Without a weapon, and completely unbeknownst as to the location of his assailant, Dante burst into a sprint towards where he thought his friends may be. 'If only I could reach them…!' he thought as he roared past a solitary tree in the middle of the field.

Another gunshot, and as Dante ran he saw a small tuft of grass burst into shreds in front of him. As he saw the somewhat comical shreds sway back to the ground as though they were from a cartoon, he gasped as he saw the ever-so-familiar clinic he had taken refuge in earlier come into view. Disappointed that his friends weren't waiting outside, and somewhat frantic, Dante sped up what was already an incredibly fast sprint in hopes that he'd be able to make it to the clinic before the mysterious assailant gunned him down. Though, as he ran, he noticed the gunshots had stopped. Now, all Dante could hear was the wind blowing as he ran by, his own frantic gasps as he gulped for air, and his feet stepping off of the bare, grassy Earth.

'Just… a little further!' Running harder than he had ever ran in his life, with some sort of inherent, hidden primal fear inside of him almost lifting him to the clinic, Dante burst through the front door, slamming into the plastic handle with his forearm. As the door swung open violently, Dante felt pain twinge in his arm, a tremendous BANG sounding as the door crashed into the inside wall of the clinic. Continuing to run at full speed, Dante slipped on the bare, solid floor, crashing chin-first into the ground. Pain coursing throughout the two bumps, the one on his chin and the one on his arm, Dante stood up, his feet clawing at the floor trying to get him running again. As he slid into the next room, he saw the three of them, Ike, Ryan, and Ruby all sitting in the chairs of the lobby. As soon as Dante entered, the three of them looked up at him.

None of them spoke. Dante looked at all three of them, his gaze averting from one to another every few seconds. His chest heaving, he panted heavily as he waited for one of them to say something. Suddenly, he realized why his chest was panting so heavily. Quickly, he said,

"Someone," the words literally burst out of his mouth as soon as he realized the predicament he was in which had led him here so quickly.

"What are you on about?" Ike asked, shaking his head as he examined Dante, who had the crimson stain of dried blood along his shirt, still making Dante look as though he were a blood-thirsty maniac.

"Someone," Dante gasped for air. Gulping, he stuttered, "Someone shot me, shooting at me. Someone outside shot me."

"Well, it doesn't look as if they hit you," Ruby said this time, with an expression of concern on her face.

"Yeah, I got away, they… they might still be outside."

"What the fuck are you waiting for?" Ryan, this time stood up, his fists clenched as he glared at Dante. "Go get yourself killed, you self-important prick."

Taken aback by Ryan's sudden outburst, though not surprised by the fact that if anyone were to have gotten mad at him, it were to have been Ryan, he replied,

"Look. I know I overreacted back there… well. No, I didn't overreact. Thing is, Ryan, I… I just had some shit I needed to take care of, okay? I didn't ask for my family to be decimated, but the thing is, I think my brother was a traitor now anyway. Fucking bastard, he's probably still alive, working for the Coalition."

"What?" Ike replied, frowning at Dante as though he were insane. "Kevin? Your brother, Kevin? Coalition? No fucking way. How would you have even figured this out, anyway?"

With Ike's retort, Dante realized he actually had no evidence whatsoever that could've helped enforce his absurd plight. All he had was a dream… but why was he so convinced that his brother stood up for the very thing that loomed over everyone on the face of the Earth's every move? Something which represented hate, terror, and anarchy.

"I… it's just a hunch, o-"

"Shut the fuck up," Ryan advanced on Dante, his fists at his sides, his face quivering with fury. "You're like a little girl, you know that?"

Dante said nothing, his face turning to his side, his hands swaying slowly by his sides. Thoughts of Kevin ran through his head, as well as twisted scenarios in which Dante was betrayed by his friends. 'Me? Betrayed? Yet, I was the one who left them… if anyone's to apologize here, it's m-'

BLAM! The thunderous roar of a gunshot surged throughout the calm afternoon air, searing through the pane of glass along the wall behind Dante, as the crystalloid symphony of the shattered glass falling to the ground rang throughout the small room. The three students immediately stuck their hands above their heads as the glass crashed to the floor. Ruby, who was sitting underneath the window had the broken shards fall all over her body, small cuts opening up on her hands and arms as she tried to bat away the falling shards of glass.

"Ruby!" Dante ran over to Ruby as she stood up, the glass settling to the floor. Ruby looked at her hands and forearms, as small trickles of blood oozed down them. She sighed and, using the one hand which had less cuts than the other, she grasped her other hand in it. Dante stood beside her, put his hands on her shoulders, and stared into her face.

"You alright?" He asked with an expression displaying utmost concern on his face.

"Yeah… it's just a flesh wound." Ruby said, looking up at Dante with the eyes he loved so much.

Dante smiled, chuckling to himself at Ruby's resiliency.

As the two stared into each other's eyes, Dante thought to himself, 'Maybe I have a c-'

BLAM! Another gunshot ripped into the clinic, ricocheting off of the opposite wall of the glass window. Dante relinquished his grip on Ruby, quickly ducking as the others did the same. As Dante buried his face in his hands, he could hear the super-fast bullet deflecting off of the clinic's many surfaces, until it seemed to suddenly stop.

'Why the fuck do these assholes keep interrupting me?'

This time, the four students didn't bother waiting for another gunshot. The four of them quickly followed Ike into the back room of the clinic, where they had stored their supplies, and of course their weapons. Though, what with all of them only wielding melee weapons, the long-range assailant could easily continue his barrage without a decent counterattack, not to mention the fact that he was still unseen.

Dante was the first to emerge wielding his two piece spear, still detached. Ike quickly followed, with his scissors. As the two stepped back into the clinic lobby which was now decorated with broken glass, Dante looked over at Ike and scoffed. Ike looked up at him, and as the twos eyes met, Dante said, "You look lame."

Ike replied with a sharp laugh, and the two turned around to see Ryan with his shuriken and Ruby with her hockey stick leave the back room.

"Ready?" Dante asked as the three of them stood at the back of the lobby.

"Okay! On three, we'll all run out there, guns' blazin'!" Ryan replied sarcastically as he smirked at Dante.

"That's not the idea, Ryan…" Dante said as he admired the shiny tip of his spear.

"Then what is?"

"Uhm…"

"Exactly. You're so full of shit."

"Yeah, you covered that."

"Well, we've gotta think something up," Ryan said as he rubbed a spot above his left eyebrow with the heel of his hand. "I really don't know how we're going to go about this though."

"I don't have any ideas," Ike said as he exhaled deeply.

Ruby, too, shook her head, raising her eyebrows. Dante stood with an odd expression on his face, as though he were probing the cosmic values of the meaning of life and at the same time wondering which flavor of jam he should spread on his toast. Well, that doesn't necessarily mean the two aren't the same thing…

* * *

Technically the youngest student in Class 1A of Cochrane High School, Zachary Schmidt had turned fifteen years old only a week before the field trip from hell began. Boy Number Twelve had come into the game in an odd state, not on top of the world though not exactly at rock bottom either. Zach lived in an artificial world; the only reason he figured he was so popular was because he was a laugh riot. He wasn't good looking; he was small and scrawny, with short, disheveled blonde hair, a slightly pimply face with lightly red cheeks, and a set of braces. He wasn't good at anything either. He sucked at sports, wasn't great at school and certainly wasn't good in the lady department.

Especially that one time… where Zach could've gotten it all in one night.

He and his best friend, his classmate Shane Appleby, were wandering around downtown Cochrane late one night on a way to a friend's house who lived up a hill from the east of Cochrane. The relationship Zach had between this friend was one of those mutual "spark-becoming-a-flame" feeling in laymen terms. She wasn't in Class 1A, though instead in Class 1B; Class 1A's rival class, the only other ninth grade class in Cochrane High, and naturally, every source of competition Class 1A could look for, whether it be in academics, athletics, or the coolest teachers.

Zach and this girl had met at an assembly for the Grade Nine students regarding an up-and-coming school dance, with which Zach and Shane had already planned an extreme caper to ruin the entire outing for everyone. Sure, it would've been cruel… things like those didn't come often in an isolated town such as Cochrane, though, that's one of those things you can look back on when you're old and decrepit with a smile on your face.

'I'm not even gonna be able to become old and decrepit.' Zach thought as he sat against a tree in the forests of C4. Taking his second bottle of water from his pack, he slowly un-twisted the lid, taking a couple slow sips. 'At this rate, I'm gonna be out of water in no time.'

Zach had spent all of his time throughout the game in the same zone, taking refugee in a somewhat-hidden ditch in-between a couple trees. He hadn't bothered trying to find anyone; in fact, he had pretty much given up hope. It hadn't occurred to him, however, that Shane may be looking for him, so he had spent his entire time sitting against a tree trying to find asleep. As lucky as he may not realize he actually was, Zach had not come across anyone in his extremely vulnerable state. Which made him all the more combat-incapable was his lousy weapon- a pair of chopsticks. Zach had almost come close enough to giving up that he had actually embraced an early death, though there was still something inside of Zach that was keeping him clinging on to wanting to continue to live. 'Funny,' he thought as he stared towards the tree opposite him. 'Class clown, goofiest guy in the grade, and now I'm giving up… oh well, what can ya' do?'

Zach again remembered the night which would've made everything so… cool. He almost got _laid._ It began with them heading to the school dance, him and Shane. After mingling with the fellow grade nine's for a while, Zach and Shane decided to go about their ultimate, mischievous plan. How it was to unfold was Shane was to complain about how the speakers in the gymnasium were to loud. As he got in an overly blatant argument with the teachers, Zach was to sneak in alcohol he and Shane had obtained from a twelfth-grader, using it to pour anonymously onto the ground. Then, while no one was looking… _set it on fire._ The plan was flawless. Zach and Shane's immaturity and thirst for adventure and something, to, well, talk about after the year was over easily caused them to overlook the glaringly obvious dangers, such as, well, almost anything happening…

Though, of course, Zach and Shane had taken the alcohol so they could keep some for themselves. This will have also been Zach's first time getting drunk, so it wouldn't take him much to get wasted, though Shane needed more, so all in all they didn't end up spending too much money. Zach was impressed with Shane's ability to seem like he was of a much older age while he was still only in grade nine. Not to mention the fact that Shane also had gotten laid before he had too. In a way, as much as Zach and Shane were best friends, Zach envied Shane… He was so… advanced.

The rest of the night became a complete joke; instead of lighting the alcohol on fire, Zach and Shane decided to anonymously slip the alcohol into someone's drinks to get them drunk… so, they chose James Crabbot, a loud, though good-intending boy who would never besmirch his reputation with the staff at Cochrane High with alcohol, though how could Zach and Shane let an opportunity like this slip? It was priceless.

They managed to pour some vodka into James' Sprite. Luckily, they managed to dilute the taste enough that it still tasted like normal Sprite, though alcoholic. Also, James was a carbonated-beverage maniac. James downed Sprite after Sprite, each of them managing to find some way to be tainted by Shane and Zach's mischievous crimes. Eventually, James began to stumble around the dance floor, happily slopping his drinks on everyone as he sang aloud to every song which began to play on the loud speakers. Zach was hysterical; what a fool! Shane, too, slapped his knees as he struggled to not throw up with how hard he was laughing; though, suddenly, everything became horrible. As they watched James stumble around the dance floor, they saw the principal come out from behind a crowd of students, seizing him by the arm.

"Who-hoa!" They heard James holler as he was dragged away by the principal. "Wheresh we goin'?" The principal said nothing as Shane and Zach watched in horror as James was taken to the principal's office.

All Zach could think of was, 'We fucked him over.'

Though, hey! The night ended up going by so fast that Zach forgot about it instantly anyway. As soon as the dance ended, Zach and Shane were invited over to the girl whom Zach was hoping to reach home plate with, the girl from Class 1B who was named Kayla Hutchings.

Zach and Shane managed to make their way up to Kaylas house, and as they entered, they entered upon a small party, with about ten or fifteen students all from grade nine, though, from the looks of it Zach and Shane appeared to be the only 1A students. Zach spent most of the night with Kayla, until finally Kayla invited Zach into her room…

'This was it,' was all Zach could think. 'I'm gonna get _laiiiid…' _He couldn't help but grin as he fathomed the possibility of him losing his virginity to a girl as hot as Kayla… _Yeah… _

As she invited him in, Kayla took off the first layer of clothing she had on, a hood, to which she revealed a t-shirt which exposed herself rather blatantly. Zach couldn't help but again think, '_Yeah, laiiiddd…' _

"You're so cute," Kayla said as she beckoned for Zach to sit beside her on the bed as she herself slowly sat down.

Zach grinned even wider than he already was, if such was even possible, and sat beside her.

"So, what next?" She said as she stared ahead towards the other end of her room.

"I dunno," Though, Zach knew more than anyone; the only phrase running through his mind was, '_Gonna get laid…._'

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, actually, one sec," Kayla said. She gave Zach a glowing look, stood up, then walked out of the room. Zach looked after her as she left, bedazzled. '_Gonna get laid, yeah yeah yeah…'_

He began to look around Kayla's room, from her old stuffed animals to pictures of her from earlier years. Zach stood up off of the bed and—

An earsplitting screech rang through Zach's ears as he stepped on a large furry object. The hair on Zach's neck seemed to stand up taller than he did. He looked down to see what he had stepped on and it was—a cat? When did Kayla get a cat? The black cat hissed at him and growled as it laid there, and Zach quickly let his foot up. It mewed, then trotted away to where Kayla had went. Zach could hear it crying as it ran down the hall. Rolling his eyes, Zach continued to look at the pictures.

"Hey idiot!" Kayla returned holding the black kitty Zach had stepped on.

"Yeah?"

"You stepped on my fucking cat you dolt!"

"It was in my fucking way!"

"Get out of my room you perverted retard!"

"Fine!"

Zach stormed out of Kayla's room as Kayla stepped aside. 'Great. Now I'm not gonna get laid 'cause I stepped on an effing cat. Great.'

That's how Zach felt right now, oddly enough. It was the same feeling… he couldn't help but feel that both times he had been dicked over rather heartily. Oh well, whaddya gonna do?

* * *

Little did he realize he made someone pretty mad that night…

"Figured something out yet?"

"No."

"Well, the gunshots've stopped."

"They're probably waiting for us to come out…"

"What if they make the first strike?"

"Then that sucks."

"You suck, Dante."

"Hey, come on, I'm trying to think."

"Maybe we should just wait it out?"

"Well, that wouldn't be bad…"

"Well, think of something quick, or I'm outta here."

At this point, the other three students raised their heads quickly to examine Ryan as he stood alone at the other side of the room facing away from them.

"I'm sick of this," Ryan said, turning around. "I told you guys I was gonna try and meet her like, four hours ago, then this guy woke up and turned everything to shit."

Dante frowned and shook his hair at his mention.

"Honestly, I'm worried. I don't wanna spend anymore time thinking what could be happening to her."

Dante looked at Ryan, with an odd sort of smirk on his face. "I know what you mean."

Ryan grinned.

The four then looked down again trying to think of a plan in which they could fight back against whoever was attacking them.

"Ryan?" A deep, male voice sounded throughout the lobby as a tall, burly figure in a violet and gold jacket shimmied into the room.

"Jez!" Ryan grinned at his friend, Boy Number Two, Jesmund Bosworth as the two walked toward each other lightly pounding fists. The two grinned at each other as Jesmund looked over Ryan's shoulder to examine his cohorts.

"Yo, why you rollin' with these foo's?" Jesmund spoke in a whisper as he leant closely to Ryan.

"I've been with them pretty much since the game started," Ryan replied as he looked back at the other three students. "Someone's been attacking us for this last little while. Do you know who?"

"Who do you think it is, Ryan?" Jesmund laughed as he took out the gun he had in his jacket, a Luger PO8. "It was me. Just didn't know it was you, though."

Ryan frowned oddly at Jesmund. "What's the matter with you? You could've killed us. I don't think it's very funny."

"Well then y'all bettah take a comedy class or sumthin'," Jesmund grinned at Ryan. As he looked over Ryan's shoulder once more, he saw Dante and Ike, and he frowned upon meeting eyes with Dante.

"Actually, wait," Dante said as he stepped forward. Jesmund eyed him apprehensively as he did. "So you were the one who started shooting at me on my way here?"

"Nah, that was Nicole. We both got guns, see."

"That's convenient," Dante said. Jesmund frowned. "So what, what'd you think when she started shooting?"

"I let her shoot."

"So you're okay with me dying?"

"To sum things up, yeah."

"Bastard!"

Dante lunged forward with the blade part of his spear, wielding it like a short sword, though the handling of the weapon was awkward as the blade wasn't used so much for slicing as it was stabbing. Jesmund quickly dodged back as Dante lunged, and Ryan quickly pushed Dante back underneath his thrusting arms to get him away from Jesmund.

"Cool off, Dante," He said as he sighed. "Jesmund, what've you got against Dante?"

"He's a punk."

"I'm not a punk!" Dante said as he flipped Jesmund off.

"That's proof o' dat. Listen Ryan, I'm gonna get outta here and head back to Nicole. You're free to go, I know you want to go since I overheard, though these foo's are fair game, aight?"

"Don't attack them, okay?" Ryan said as he raised his eyebrows at Jesmund.

"I'll think about it, alright?" Jesmund put his hand on his shoulder as he led Ryan outside. "Come with us."

"No, I'm going alone..."

"Well… alright. I'll see you later, Ryan."

"Yeah, see ya Jesmund."

Jesmund walked out of the lobby through the front door, and as he walked, Dante saw him shrug his shoulders toward a bush in the field. Nicole Zimmel, Girl Number Fourteen stood up and raised her arms as though she were increasingly frustrated. Jesmund again shrugged and beckoned for Nicole to wait up. The two of them met up then walked away past the hill the students could see and out of sight.

"He left awfully fast," Dante said as he squinted out the window against the glaring sun.

"He's onto something," Ryan said as he too struggled to see clearly outside. "Be careful, alright?"

Ike was the first to speak up. "So you're leaving now?"

"Yep."

"Well… we'll miss you. Thanks, though, for Dante, and all. Yeah." Ike ruffled his hair in a similar matter Dante usually did, and reached out for Ryan to shake his hand. Ryan shook it, and he looked towards Ruby, who looked disappointed.

"You be careful too, okay?"

"I will," Ryan replied. "Give us a hug." He leant over and Ruby wrapped his arms around him as the two hugged.

Ryan released himself from Ruby and turned to Dante. He nodded, and reached out his hand for Dante to shake it as Ike had done for him. Dante accepted, nodded, and said, "Yeah, be careful, alright?"

Ryan nodded, saying, "Yeah. Wish me luck."

"Sure thing," Dante said. Ryan, with his shuriken, picked up his bag which was resting on one of the lobby chairs, and he left the room quickly. The three of them watched as their loyal friend walked over the hill the same way Jesmund and Nicole had, and out of sight.

"You don't suppose…?" Ike began.

"Nah, no way." Dante replied. "He was right though. Jesmund and Nicole are up to something… I know it." He sighed, and sat down in one of the lobby chairs.

BAM!

"No fucking way!" Dante jumped up as soon as the gunshot sounded, quickly picking up his spear as he looked out the window. Nicole stood atop the hill outside, wielding a gun of her own, but…?

BAM! BAM! RATATATATATATATATA!

What seemed like hundreds of shots sounded in a mere instant as the shots rang off throughout the small clinic, though as Dante stood in front of the window, he quickly realized two things; 'Wow, she's a terrible aim if she can't hit me with that thing when she's only a hundred feet away with a gun that fires like, a bazillion shots per second…' The other thing was, 'WHY THE FUCK AM I STANDING UP?'

Dante quickly ducked under the window of the clinic and out of Nicole's rang as he heard another round of the repetitive shots sound off. They sounded like a typewriter…

As the round stopped sounding, her turned around to see where Ruby and Ike were. Ruby was out of the room, probably in the back, while Ike was behind the front desk of the lobby. Dante saw the contents of what were once on top of the desk strewn about on the ground… Dante laughed in his head. 'Silly guy, he rolled over the table!'

As Dante laid on the ground, he heard the shouts of Jesmund and Nicole. Though, where was Ryan? They hadn't jumped him… had they?

'Fuck this.' Looking at the part of the spear he had with him, Dante thought to himself, 'This is going nowhere.'

"Ike! We're goin' huntin'!"

41 STUDENTS REMAINING


End file.
